strongernow
04-24-2004, 09:37 AM
Georgia Tech Helps Reidsville Prison Cut Annual Water Use by 24 Million Gallons, Saving $102,000
Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute
REIDSVILLE – The cannery operated at the Rogers State Prison (RSP) in Reidsville is saving approximately 24 million gallons of water and $102,000 per year in part thanks to assistance from Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute (EDI). As part of the Georgia Environmental Partnership (GEP), a multi-agency collaboration that sponsored the project, EDI field engineer Michael Brown helped conduct a study of the cannery’s water usage and develop reduction strategies.
As many as 130 inmates work each day at the facility, canning carrots, beans, peas, potatoes, squash and greens. These vegetables are cultivated on the prison grounds with all of the canned items flowing back into the Georgia prison system for consumption by inmates. In 2002, the plant produced approximately 192,871 cases of vegetables. Ultimately, 6,834,670 pounds of food are canned annually here.
EDI’s Brown and project partner Judy Adler of the Pollution Prevention Assistance Division (P2AD) began the project by gathering cannery supervisory staff and maintenance personnel for a brainstorming session. “Employees that work at a facility day after day are the best resources for identifying water efficiency,” Adler explained. “Because employees are involved in the process from day one, brainstorming leads to buy-in of the chosen water efficiency alternatives.”
Brown visited the cannery over a one-month period and measured all water applications and processes at the site. Once he completed the water measurements, he catalogued the data to study the water usage patterns.
Using Brown’s data along with results from the facilitated brainstorming session, cannery supervisory and maintenance staff determined areas where cuts could be made in water usage and devised strategies to do so.
“Approximately 25 percent of the water used was going to washing the floors,” said Brown. “This was being done by using hoses as brooms. Through the facilitated session, we determined we could save about 90 percent of water usage per day for this task by having the cannery maintenance staff do “dry cleanup” using shovels, squeegees and brooms to push solid waste into a floor drain.”
“Another example,” Brown added “is the inmates were rinsing the vegetables with fresh water during all three stages of cleaning. Now only the end stage uses fresh water. The other water gets re-used. This “counterflow rinsing system” not only reduces spills and overflows but also saves approximately two-thirds of the water usage per day for this task.”
Gary Brown, maintenance supervisor at the cannery, planned, designed and built the counterflow rinsing system after initially presenting the idea at the brainstorming session for everyone’s input. Staff at the University of Georgia Food Science Department – a GEP collaborator – determined that the counterflow rinsing system would not adversely affect food safety.
Gary Brown said that the complete conservation project has enabled the prison to make substantial cuts in water usage as well as save on its energy bill.
“Mike and Judy were instrumental in giving us ideas and a game plan to help conserve energy and water,” Gary Brown said. “These ideas save dollars and energy all around. For instance, we’re saving the cost of electricity used to pump water and costs to treat water that runs into the treatment plant. Also, we’re in the process of carrying over and implementing the water conservation ideas we’re using for the cannery plant at the prison’s meat processing plant and dairy.
“It’s always a pleasure to work with companies and organizations such as the RSP in Reidsville that are interested in meeting allotted water levels,” said EDI’s Brown. “The staff at RSP actively participated in this project and I expect they will continue their conservation resource efforts. In fact, based on our recommendations, they recently installed water meters so they could continue taking measurements to track their water usage.”
The GEP is a collaborative effort of the Georgia Institute of Technology, P2AD of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the University of Georgia. It sponsors and performs environmental conservation projects and education.
Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute
REIDSVILLE – The cannery operated at the Rogers State Prison (RSP) in Reidsville is saving approximately 24 million gallons of water and $102,000 per year in part thanks to assistance from Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute (EDI). As part of the Georgia Environmental Partnership (GEP), a multi-agency collaboration that sponsored the project, EDI field engineer Michael Brown helped conduct a study of the cannery’s water usage and develop reduction strategies.
As many as 130 inmates work each day at the facility, canning carrots, beans, peas, potatoes, squash and greens. These vegetables are cultivated on the prison grounds with all of the canned items flowing back into the Georgia prison system for consumption by inmates. In 2002, the plant produced approximately 192,871 cases of vegetables. Ultimately, 6,834,670 pounds of food are canned annually here.
EDI’s Brown and project partner Judy Adler of the Pollution Prevention Assistance Division (P2AD) began the project by gathering cannery supervisory staff and maintenance personnel for a brainstorming session. “Employees that work at a facility day after day are the best resources for identifying water efficiency,” Adler explained. “Because employees are involved in the process from day one, brainstorming leads to buy-in of the chosen water efficiency alternatives.”
Brown visited the cannery over a one-month period and measured all water applications and processes at the site. Once he completed the water measurements, he catalogued the data to study the water usage patterns.
Using Brown’s data along with results from the facilitated brainstorming session, cannery supervisory and maintenance staff determined areas where cuts could be made in water usage and devised strategies to do so.
“Approximately 25 percent of the water used was going to washing the floors,” said Brown. “This was being done by using hoses as brooms. Through the facilitated session, we determined we could save about 90 percent of water usage per day for this task by having the cannery maintenance staff do “dry cleanup” using shovels, squeegees and brooms to push solid waste into a floor drain.”
“Another example,” Brown added “is the inmates were rinsing the vegetables with fresh water during all three stages of cleaning. Now only the end stage uses fresh water. The other water gets re-used. This “counterflow rinsing system” not only reduces spills and overflows but also saves approximately two-thirds of the water usage per day for this task.”
Gary Brown, maintenance supervisor at the cannery, planned, designed and built the counterflow rinsing system after initially presenting the idea at the brainstorming session for everyone’s input. Staff at the University of Georgia Food Science Department – a GEP collaborator – determined that the counterflow rinsing system would not adversely affect food safety.
Gary Brown said that the complete conservation project has enabled the prison to make substantial cuts in water usage as well as save on its energy bill.
“Mike and Judy were instrumental in giving us ideas and a game plan to help conserve energy and water,” Gary Brown said. “These ideas save dollars and energy all around. For instance, we’re saving the cost of electricity used to pump water and costs to treat water that runs into the treatment plant. Also, we’re in the process of carrying over and implementing the water conservation ideas we’re using for the cannery plant at the prison’s meat processing plant and dairy.
“It’s always a pleasure to work with companies and organizations such as the RSP in Reidsville that are interested in meeting allotted water levels,” said EDI’s Brown. “The staff at RSP actively participated in this project and I expect they will continue their conservation resource efforts. In fact, based on our recommendations, they recently installed water meters so they could continue taking measurements to track their water usage.”
The GEP is a collaborative effort of the Georgia Institute of Technology, P2AD of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the University of Georgia. It sponsors and performs environmental conservation projects and education.