As a depleting natural resource, water demands responsible consumption equally from residential and commercial consumers. Reckless consumption is known to contribute to scarcity resulting in adverse short and long term consequences. According to Melbourne-based water authority City West Water, businesses in the state of Victoria have begun experiencing more-limited water availability and the issue may eventually negatively impact other regions.
That is exactly why responsible and sustainable usage of water should be on the agenda of every business. Reducing water usage not only benefits the environment but also can lead to reduced running costs for your business. Environmentally friendly cleaning practices have become a hot topic in commercial spaces today, to support the achievement of business’ environmental policy.
Here, Conquest offer four simple tips to assist businesses in reducing their water use during cleaning. These include:
- Water Recycling
- Rethinking Cleaning Processes
- Selecting the Right Equipment
- Correct Equipment Operation and Maintenance
1. Water Recycling
One of the most obvious and simplest ways to reduce water consumption, is to draw on water recycling practices. Water recycling involves converting wastewater into water to be used for alternative applications. According to Australia Water Association, water can be recycled to a quality suitable for use including:
- Drinking (potable) water
- Non-drinking uses in households, gardening, watering golf courses and recreational parks
- Industrial uses such as washing and cooling in power stations and factories
- Agriculture, horticulture, forestry, pasture, flowers, viticulture and sugar cane growing
- Fire fighting
- Groundwater recharge
- Environmental flows and wetlands
In commercial cleaning applications, recent innovations in technology has seen the introduction of smart water recycling systems featured in floor scrubbing machines to minimize waste water in application.
In our range, Conquest boast the Maxima Plus floor scrubbing machine, which consumes 66% less water and detergent for every clean. The mechanism in this machine recycles detergent solution to increase efficiency of the resources being used. A state-of-the art floor scrubber, the Maxima Plus also features an onboard water recycling system that increases water capacity by 50% to reduce waste and allowing the machine to work for longer periods.
2. Rethink Cleaning Practices
Businesses commonly give water consumption very little consideration. So most will find they have ample opportunity to rethink cleaning strategies with the goal of reducing waste water. As City West Water’s Best Practice Guidelines states,
“Often these cleaning practices and the chemicals used will be based on habit rather than an evaluation of what cleaning is necessary.”
Many businesses still rely on time-consuming and inefficient manual floor cleaning process, despite new innovations available specifically designed to improve productivity and reduce environmental impact. Automated floor cleaning solutions can replace your traditional mop and bucket for a safer, faster and more water-efficient clean. Take the Conquest Fimop for example, which eliminates excessive water usage by separating fresh water and collection tanks, to ensure exceptional results with the added benefit of leaving the floor dry and immediately safe to walk on after scrubbing.
3. Select of the Right Equipment
Take the time to perform a thorough evaluation of your needs and water-consumption goals, before researching the breadth of solutions available to you.
While there is multitude options available to fulfill varied needs, some key features to look for include:
- “Solution Saver” technology that allows independent dosing of water and cleaning detergents, to reduce overall consumption.
- Pre-programmed functions for more even dosing of water and detergent solution to optimize consumption and reduce unnecessary waste.
- Automated decrease of water stream pressure during turns, to cut down the amount of water being spilled to the sides.
- Integrated or onboard water recycling mechanisms that decrease water usage while enabling the machine to work up to 50% longer.
- Oscillating scrubbing technology requires up to 30% less water than that required for traditional disc floor scrubbers.
While selecting the right equipment may seem like a daunting process, Conquest recommend enlisting the expertise of a professional with a full onsite assessment and offer a full range of water scrubbing solutions that may be fully customized to you unique floor cleaning challenges. As part of Conquest’s ISP program, we conduct a full evaluation of your site to ensure and pride ourselves on recommending exactly the right floor cleaning solution for your business needs, all backed by our Conquest 360 promises.
4. Correct Operation and Maintenance
Correct operation by trained operations staff along with adequate scheduled preventative maintenance, will ensure your equipment continues to perform at peak condition while avoiding leaks, spills, streaking and other unnecessary water escape, in addition to minimising the potential for emergency breakdowns.
Conquest offer full operator training with delivery, plus a range of adaptable scheduled maintenance programs that may be customized your specific requirements.
Take the first step to achieving your business environmental goals and reduce water usage in cleaning.
Contact us today and we’ll assist you every step of the way – from evaluation of cleaning processes and solution recommendation, through to training maintenance.
