Businesses rewarded for saving water
The City provides a one-time financial incentive of 30 cents per litre per day to businesses that make permanent and measurable water reducing changes to their operations. Under the Capacity Buy Back Program, City staff works collaboratively with businesses to identify areas of water being 'wasted' and offers solutions that will permanently reduce water use and wastewater discharge. The goal of this program is to help reduce water use city-wide by 15 percent by 2011. Businesses reap rewards with lower water bills and utility costs; as well, they receive a cash incentive from the City that pays for a portion of their costs to install water-saving fixtures and equipment.
- Cadbury Adams Inc. collaborated with the City of Toronto to identify areas of its business that could be more water efficient. Cadbury Adams reduced water use by 156,000 litres per day and received a cheque for $46,816.20 from the WaterSaver Program for making water saving changes to its operations.
- The Fairmont - Royal York was the first commercial property to respond to the City’s call to save water. Royal York received a cheque for $48,685.00 in appreciation of its efforts to reduce water use in its laundry facility. The Fairmont-Royal York installed a commercial water softener that reduced water use in the laundry to just one wash and one rinse per cycle. The City’s rebate covered the cost of the water softener.
- Humber River Regional Hospital received a cheque for $24,716 for successfully reducing water use by more than 80,000 litres of water per day. The hospital’s efforts will free up sufficient water to provide for 80 homes in the Toronto area and help the City to reduce water use city-wide.
- Paragon Linen received $14,883.93 for reducing water use by 49,000 litres of water daily – that’s enough water to supply 50 homes. Paragon installed a state of the art tunnel washer system that cuts water requirements in half per pound of laundry.
- Redpath Sugars reduced its water use by 212,080 litres per day and received a cheque for $53,020 from the WaterSaver Program. Redpath Sugars is one of the largest water using facilities in Toronto, using more than two million litres of water per day. Redpath uses water for general cleaning (process), in boilers, for once-through cooling and for domestic purposes. Working with the City staff, Redpath identified areas of its business that could be more water-efficient.
- Upper Canada College reduced water use by 38,000 litres per day and received more than $10,000 in rebates from the WaterSaver Program. Upper Canada College, an independent boys’ school in Toronto, collaborated with the City of Toronto’s WaterSaver Program to develop water-saving solutions. The rebates helped to offset the cost of installing water-saving fixtures and equipment. Additional savings to the College included lower water and utility bills.