Cintas Corporation
Rockford, Illinois
Jon Klever
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb
Cintas Corporation is the largest laundry company in the United States
and Canada, with over 500,000 clients and 365 facilities. The Rockford facility
has been in existence for three years. The facility uses and discharges
millions of gallons of water annually. The intern was placed to investigate
the water efficiency of the plant as well as to conduct an energy efficiency
audit.
Results:
The intern accomplished the following:
- Instituted procedures to ensure that lights were being shut
off when not in use.
- Developed a program to convert exit signs to high efficiency
LEDs. This could save over $2,500 per year.
- Initiate a leak detection and repair program for water leaks
that can save an estimated $1,000 annually.
- Recommend installing wastewater meters on the sanitary sewer
lines to account for inherent evaporative losses. This could save over
$600 per year
in sewer charges.
- Recommend using the washing rinse cycle water for the initial
wash of dirty items, which has the potential to substantially reduce
water consumption.
Further investigation is required to determine the appropriate
concentration for rinse water reuse.
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