Iowa Water/Wastewater Operators lead the way in pursuit of D.O.E. Superior Energy Performance Certification

Iowa Water/Wastewater Operators lead the way in pursuit of D.O.E. Superior Energy Performance Certification Des Moines, Iowa - June 25th, 2014 The City of Des Moines Water Reclamation Authority and Des Moines Water Works have signed agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office to pursue Superior Energy Performance (SEP) certification. SEP is a certification and recognition for facilities demonstrating energy management excellence and sustained energy savings. The City of Des Moines and Des Moines Water Works are the first two water/wastewater operators to pursue SEP certification in the water/wastewater industry sector.

Mr. William Stowe, Des Moines Water Works CEO
 and General Manager signing the Department of Energy
Superior Energy Performance agreement

David L. Miller, Director of the Des Moines Metropolitan
Waste Water Reclamation Authority signing the
Department of Energy Superior Energy Performance agreement

"Today managing the operating performance of water/wastewater facilities is complicated. With the typical aging infrastructure there is always something breaking or needing to be maintained and projects to manage. On top of that many water/wastewater utilities face lower revenues combined with the potential for increasing costs forcing managers to take a hard look at ways to either increase revenues or reduce expenses. Increasing rates is not a very popular alternative and reducing jobs is simply not an option. However one area that can certainly help the realities of this economic outlook is the potential expense reduction in energy consumption, a water/wastewater facility’s second highest expense. Not to mention the potential added benefit to the environment.

"Water/wastewater is an energy-intensive operation.  There are in excess of 75,000 water and wastewater systems in the United States, over 500 in the State of Iowa alone, estimated to consume well over 150 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) a year, approximately 5% of the total US electricity consumed. If consumption growth is in line with overall energy projections this will increase by 29% by 2040 (U.S. Energy Information Administration) further adding to the socio-economic constrained situation water/wastewater operators currently find themselves. It is simply no longer an option to address water/wastewater energy efficiency, it is a mandate,” noted Mr. William Stowe, Des Moines Water Works CEO and General Manager.

Mr. Bill Miller, the City of Des Moines (WRA) Risk & Reliability Manager and the individual within the State of Iowa responsible for initiating the energy management optimization movement at both the Des Moines Water Works and Des Moines Metropolitan Waste Water Reclamation Authority added, “ Water systems (including water supply, treatment, and distribution) utilize nearly the same amount of electricity as wastewater systems (including collection, treatment, and discharge). The majority of the water/wastewater energy consumption, approximately 80%, is by motors and motor-driven systems (e.g. pumping, aeration, etc.).  Therefore, most of the energy efficiency gains for water/waste water systems can be realized through the process of making water pumping and aeration systems more efficient.  But understanding and quantifying how much energy the actual systems or components within oa water/wastewater operation use, let alone individual pieces of equipment, and establishing design baseline efficiencies typically has not been done.  At best there is a main electrical meter and a few sub-meters that help the operator try to isolate what is going on. Without detailed energy and asset information managers can’t identify opportunities for improvement. They can’t easily figure out what to do and they can’t validate the savings from energy efficiency measures. We at both the City of Des Moines and Des Moines Water Works believe that detailed electricity data is a key component that is missing and everybody needs. It’s actually pretty simple; you can’t manage what you don’t measure. The SEP program will build upon the City of Des Moines and Des Moines Water Works existing infrastructure and operating technology investments, including both Motors@Work and Infor’s Energy Performance Management solution.  Working off the results of US manufacturing companies that have achieved SEP certification, which involves implementing the ISO 50001 energy management standard, we expect to identify additional energy savings.  The independently verified SEP energy savings will be valued by our water/waste water operation and finance executives.

But Iowa’s commitment to the energy efficiency of their water/wastewater does not stop with the two largest operators in the State.  The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) is working closely with both The City of Des Moines and Des Moines Water Works with a view to replicating the water/wastewater energy efficiency capabilities throughout the State.  IEDA intends to partner with selected municipalities attain similar results as The City of Des Moines and Des Moines Water Works at the selected water/wastewater treatment plants within the State, providing requisite resources and software to evaluate the financial and environmental benefits of on-going enabling the water facility operator to: 1) understand how their water/wastewater facilities energy efficiency performance compares to design standards and industry benchmarks, and 2) make informed decisions regarding the best return on investment for addressing energy efficiency non-conformities and improvement opportunities.