Washington Hospital Installs New Water-Saving Systems

Will Prevent More Than Four Million Gallons From Going Down the Drain Each Year

The drought is requiring Californians to find new ways to reduce their water consumption because every precious drop counts. Washington Hospital is doing its part, recently installing new Getinge MP-129 Water Savers on its instrument-sterilizing units that promise to save more than 4 million gallons of water each year.

“The drought was the major impetus for reducing water usage at Washington Hospital, but the water savings will continue long after the drought is over,” said Robert Alfieri, director of Facilities at Washington Hospital. “We have taken a number of steps at the hospital to minimize our water consumption, including installing the new Water Savers.”

He said the hospital uses more than 80,000 gallons of water every day and the new Water Savers will reduce that consumption by about 16,000 gallons a day. The Water Savers have been installed on equipment that sterilizes instruments used during surgical procedures.

The units use steam to sterilize the instruments and then a vacuum is used in the drying process, Alfieri explained. Water is used to create that vacuum. Before the Water Savers were installed, the drying-cycle water went down the drain. The Water Saver is a closed loop reservoir system that recirculates the water instead of dumping it.

“Eleven gallons of water per minute went down the drain during the drying cycle, which lasts about 30 minutes, so that’s about 330 gallons per load,” he said. “We do about 25 loads per day at Washington Hospital. That’s a lot of water.”

Washington Hospital has taken a number of steps to reduce water usage. For example, the hospital has installed automatic flushing devices on its toilets, low-flow shower heads, and hands-free faucets, as well as reducing the amount of water it uses for landscaping.

“Our lawns are brown just like everyone else’s,” Alfieri said. “We are all doing our part to reduce water usage, including Washington Hospital. We have taken the drought very seriously.”

For more information about Washington Hospital, visit www.whhs.com.