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Practicing what they preach: Companies urged to conserve water resources
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com, @Bill_PlanoStar on Twitter
Water restrictions have become commonplace across North Texas in recent years as increased demand for water and a lack of rainfall have led to diminishing lake levels.
As one of the largest consumers of water in the Metroplex, Coca Cola has taken a lead in encouraging its fellow manufacturers to find ways to use water more efficiently. Phil Phillips, the company's director of manufacturing in DFW, shared some of the company's secrets Thursday at the 2013 Regional Leadership Day.
"We have to be very efficient with water and cherish the water that we get," Phillips said, noting that water is used in almost every step of the production process. "We have to give it back. We have to reduce [usage]. We have to be very responsible."
"We are talking about over 100 million gallons of water a year we are not using at Coca Cola, yet we are still able to grow our business," he said.
Phillips said he has been encouraged by the enthusiasm his employees have shown in giving back to the community with projects such as cleaning wetlands and making rain barrels, and said he hopes other companies will follow Coca Cola's lead.
"We recognize that we are not alone," he said. "There are many, many industries that use water, and we are just a small component of that. Fortunately, along with partners in industry and in the community, there is a lot of care and concern through all our industries about how we are going to become good water stewards."
Coca Cola's efforts come at a time when the water shortfall across much of North Texas is increasing.
The North Texas Municipal Water District is still operating without 28 percent of its potential capacity since pumping is not allowed in Lake Texoma due to the presence of zebra mussels. That should change later this year when a pipeline is opened between the lake and the district's water treatment facility in Wylie, said Denise Hickey, the district's public relations coordinator.
"We have had some real supply and demand issues, so we have had to have our cities help reduce that water demand," she said. "... While we are in better shape than we were in 2011 or 2012, we haven't had average rainfall this year."
While Phillips spoke about ways companies could reduce usage, Hickey said there are a few simple things residents can do to decrease water usage.
The first, she said, was to ensure toilets are not leaking. To ensure toilets are operating properly, put a few drops of food coloring in the tank and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. If the food coloring appears in the bowl, there's a leak that should be corrected.
Hickey said to also make sure showers are not leaking, and to learn how to use irrigation systems to ensure yards are only watered as much as needed. She said residents can also landscape with native species of plants that require less water than non-native plants.
For information on current water restrictions and lake levels, visit ntmwd.com.
For additional information on the 2013 Regional Leadership Day, see http://www.scntx.com/articles/2013/02/08/plano_star-courier/news/7761.txt
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
dcc041 wrote on Feb 14, 2013 9:53 PM:
" It was raining the other evening and as I passed businesses their water sprinklers were running, what a waste of water. For $20 dollars they can put on a "Rain Guage" that tells the system NOT to run when it's rained. "
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