We had another great group of Water Champions in the past year, this time some students from the after school program at Wildwood High School, and we wanted to update all of you South Jersey Watersavers on a project started by the students that has had a real impact in the local community!
Through our partnership with the American Littoral Society’s education coordinator, the students learned all about aquifers, salt water intrusion, water conservation through both behavior and technology change, and conducted water audits at home and at school. Then they performed two additional audits at local businesses. One of those businesses, which we will be highlighting today, was the Key West Cafe, located just a few blocks from the school.
Steve, the owner of the restaurant, was totally on board with the project, explaining how with the high utility rates in a shore town like Wildwood, water is money! To modify a famous Ben Franklin quote, a drop saved is a penny earned.
First the students identified all of the water using fixtures in the restaurant, their rate of water use, and how often they were used. There was one toilet and one sink each in the men’s and women’s restrooms plus the employee restroom, a sanitizer, and a 3-bay, 2-bay, and regular sink in the kitchen.
Then they calculated an estimate of how much water the restaurant used and how much they could save if they switched their fixtures to more water efficient ones. This got a bit convoluted!
In the end we estimated that the Key West Cafe could save about 233,208 gallons of water per year if they upgraded everything!
To help them get started, we used some of the grant money provided by EPA for this program to replace all of the toilets and bathroom sinks in the restaurant. These upgrades alone could save an estimated 49,122 gallons per year!
A big thanks to the Key West Cafe for participating in this program, and to our Water Champions for making this year a success! In addition to the upgrades we did at the school itself plus the businesses we will be adding this coming year, including Garibalis right next door, we are well on our way to massive water savings for the city of Wildwood!