Billed as “the largest water efficiency conference in the world,” the first WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition, held in October in Las Vegas, NV, brought together institutional and private–sector stakeholders from all over the globe. It was co–sponsored by the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Based on what I observed there, it’s clear that water efficiency is becoming an important technology area available to point–of–use/point–of–entry (POU/POE) water treatment dealers for both their marketing and service offerings.

Appropriately held in the driest state in the union, the three–day conference was launched by a distinguished visitor — Prince Feisal Ibn Al–Hussein of Jordan, who gave the keynote address. He is the brother of Jordan’s King Abdulla II and chairman of Jordan’s Royal Water Committee, which is in charge of his arid kingdom’s water resource management and its development of alternative water sources.

“In the 21st century,” the prince said, “the world’s destiny will not depend upon whether we have enough oil, but by whether we have enough water. In countries less fortunate than [the United States], access to clean water is a daily challenge. My country, Jordan, is one of the world’s 10 most water–scarce nations.”

He added: “We have implemented a world–class water management system, and our homes integrate a full spectrum of water-saving devices. Water treatment technologies, including filtration and desalination, are employed for essential water reclamation.”

Later, at the WaterSmart Expo exhibits, there was an array of water conservation agencies, associations, products and services; many focused on water reclamation and improvement. They put the lie to the formerly held belief that water quality and water quantity were separate issues, instead of being compatible, often–integrated disciplines.

Of particular interest to those working in residential water treatment were comments by people like Nicole Lise, public relations coordinator for the SNWA, the public agency which supplies the Las Vegas region with its drinking water. She described the agency’s WaterSmart Homes program, which partners with regional homebuilders. The SNWA has received national recognition from EPA.

“Our program with the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association began in 2005, seeking a coordinated effort to make area homebuilders become more water–efficient in their practices and techniques,” Lise said.

“Builders are always looking to get ahead of the curve on important trends that impact their industry,” she said. Builders in the SNWA’s WaterSmart Homes program are selling homes that save up to 75,000 gallons per year over houses built 10 years ago. Member builders include KB Homes, RS Development, Warmington Homes, Astoria Homes, and Pulte Homes/Del Webb. About one in three homes now built by the program’s builder–members has earned the WaterSmart designation.

Doug Bennett, the SNWA’s conservation director and also conference program chairman, explained, “We wanted to develop a [WaterSmart Homes] program that met the needs of both high–production and small independent builders. In other words, we wanted a program that gives even a small builder an affordable SmartWater certification program.

“Many cities and municipal water agencies in the West have built model homes that incorporate several water conservation features. But they tended to include a lot of products that were unaffordable for most home buyers. Our program focuses on off–the–shelf products, readily available and affordable. Also, the products we use have to be visible or easily inspectable.”

Despite Las Vegas’s rapid growth, its residents now use less water than in 1998. In the WaterSmart Homes program, new builders pay a one–time fee of $2,000 for promotional purposes. WaterSmart yard signs point out the homes’ natural (desert) landscapes, in place of lawns. In the arid desert climate, 60 to 70 percent of potential water savings is in outdoor landscaping.

Water–saving washers and dryers are part of the SNWA WaterSmart program, as are water–efficient dishwashers and POE water softeners with demand–type controls. Independent water treatment dealers work with builders to provide products, often sold directly to homeowners once they move in.

Similarly, POU treatment systems are offered to homeowners as options, Lise explained. Carbon–based filtration is recommended because of the relative water–inefficiency of most reverse osmosis (RO) drinking water systems.

One exception noted by Bennett was the Watts Zero Waste RO system, which redirects reject water that normally would go down the drain and sends it into the hot water side of the home plumbing system, to be used for washing dishes, cleaning and other purposes. The system is rated at 25 gallons per day.

Smart controllers also carry a rebate offer from SNWA and are encouraged as a way to help prevent overwatering of landscapes. Bob Maisner, vice president and general manager of Watts Premier Water in Phoenix, AZ, observed, “It is inevitable that the worlds of water conservation and water treatment will come together. Need — and technology — will be the drivers.”

One relatively new and interesting technology area is rainwater harvesting. Shannon Murphy, vice president of the Watts Municipal Systems Division, said, “In Hawaii as well as here in Las Vegas, we’re seeing rainwater catchment programs for green homes.”

Jason Kerrigan, vice president of Rain Harvesting, Aurora, IL, which makes water harvesting systems, said its systems include filtration to ensure that water coming off a roof is as clean as possible. A carbon filter is applied as the water is pumped out of a storage tank.

“In the US, we’re looking for dealers who can specialize in rain harvesting,” Kerrigan said. “These might certainly include water treatment equipment dealers. We would train them to put a rain harvesting system together. A typical residential system would range in cost from $3,000 to $5,000. Systems with larger tanks and better pumps account for the difference in price.”

(Editor’s note: See also “Treatment for Rainwater Catchment” in the November 2008 Water Technology®.)

Donnamarie Metlund is president of Metlund Systems, a Costa Mesa, CA–based company that makes an on–demand hot water system that the company says saves water and energy. She reported at the WaterSmart Expo that water treatment dealers were making inquiries.

“They’re looking for green products that are a logical extension for their water treatment business,” Metlund added. The Metlund system is an electronically controlled pumping system that works with both tank and tankless hot water systems.

POU/POE professionals working in the commercial/industrial treatment market could have seen the exhibit by Water Treatment Technologies, Hampton, NH. It displayed its EnviroSystem, geared exclusively to the water recycling needs of the stone industry.

At the VRTX Technologies booth, Leon Shapiro, regional sales manager for the Schertz TX–based firm, said his product, in use for more than 18 years, is a non–chemical scale–removing system for cooling towers and evaporative condensers. Shapiro says customers save on chemical costs and on water and sewer charges, and the system provides reused water for landscape irrigation.

Other descaling systems on display included those made by Superior Manufacturing, Fort Wayne, IN, and Aqua–Rex, a British–based company with an office in Orange County, CA.

Water treatment installers seeking to promote water–efficiency services for their customers also could benefit from organizations like Green Plumbers USA, another exhibitor.

Green Plumbers came to the USA from Australia in 2006. Its US headquarters is in Sacramento, CA. The organization has trained more than 1,600 plumbers through regional workshops on water efficiency for the plumbing trade.

Those who complete the course are certified according to the curriculum developed in Australia. Additional courses focus on commercial/industrial piping systems. Carrie McChesney is Green Plumbers USA national program director, and their Web site is: www.greenplumbersusa.com.