PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Award-Winning Water Supply System Lowers Usage and Costs

he Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) headquarters in Decatur had been coping with high nonpotable water usage and costs to support systems fed by the county water supply. In fact, the GBI consumed 1,000,000 gallons

Project Team Owner: Georgia Bureau of Investigation and CBRE, Inc. Engineer: McKenneys, Inc. The Challenge Calculate water usage and costs history Pinpoint source of excesses Devise supplemental water supply solution The Solution Dig an on-site well and install storage cisterns Capture condensate and rainwater for cisterns Pipe water from cisterns to cooling tower and irrigation systems The Results Cost savings of $20,000 annually Project earned 2013 GASFA Innovation Award System payback of four years annually, which allows the system to pay for itself in just four years. With such signicant resultsnot only in cost savings but also reduced environmental impactthe project earned a 2013 Innovation Award from the Georgia Association of State Facilities Administrators (GASFA). It also paves the way for other state agencies with a high demand for non- potable water to enlist a similar solution to lower water use and costs, provided it has the infrastructure to support an on-site well and water storage system.

monthcosting $34,400 annually. From this information, they also developed a baseline meter reading for the winter months of just over 140,000 gallons per month. The source of the additional 230,000 gallons per month on average was then pinpointed the cooling tower make-up water and irrigation systems.

To lessen county water usage, the GBI staff developed an inno vative alternative water capture system and enlisted McKenneys engineering expertise and capa bilities to implement the system. It consisted of two cisterns with 10,000-gallon total storage capacity and an on-site well that pumps water to the cisterns. In  McKenneys also installed a pump, control addition, the system also tapped into condensate water from air valves and p iping to the cisterns handlers in the GBIs Annex during a typical hot August. Hoping to building and diverted rainwater from the reduce its water usage and its high costs, buildings roof to the cisterns. McKenneys the GBI collaborated with McKenneys to also installed a pump, control valves and implement a more feasible, affordable and piping to the cisterns to distribute the stored sustainable solution. water to the cooling tower make-up and irrigation systems. After several years of monitoring water usage and carefully analyzing the data, the With its new non-potable water supply GBI staff determined that they consumed system operating successfully, the GBI an average of 370,000 gallons of water a expects to achieve $20,000 in cost savings
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