Watershed LLC
Guiding Businesses to profitable sustainability.
Helping homeowners live efficiently, sustainably, and in comfort. Since 2001.
Watershed LLC Water Audits and Conservation
Michael installing drip irrigation and also teaching the homeowner how to do it - a cost effective method for drip installations.
Michael Laurie has completed hundreds of residential, commercial and industrial water audits/consultations/inspections.
His work has included:
- home irrigation systems
- indoor and outdoor audits of offices
- industrial facilities
- hospitals
- hotels
- zoos
- high tech firms
- schools
- research facilities
- and many other facilities.
He has analyzed savings associated with:
- irrigation systems
- cooling towers
- single pass water-cooled equipment
- reverse osmosis
- sterilizers
- water reuse
- boilers
- vehicle wash systems
- rainwater collection
- green roofs
- ozone treatment equipment
- decorative fountains
- commercial laundry equipment
- kitchen equipment
- restrooms
- swimming pools
- and more.
How Watershed LLC Can Help You With Water Savings
If your facility has one or more of the following types of equipment, you may have some good water and money saving opportunities.
- Feel free to give us a call to discuss these savings possibilities and how we can be of assistance to you:
Types of Water Using Equipment that are likely leading to a wasteful water bill for you:
- Condenser cooled by a stream of watering running down the drain can waste thousands of dollars/year We can measure the flows and show you how much you can save with replacement equipment.
- Cooling Tower Blowdown not controlled based on cycles of concentration. Relatively low cost automatic blowdown controllers can save on the water and wastewater or stormwater bill but ensure that the tower is using enough water to protect the equipment and prevent contamination.
- Decorative Fountain Water not recycled
- Garbage Disposal Kitchen garbage disposals especially ones that use water even when they are not in operation. Replacing use of kitchen garbage disposals with composting of food wastes can save energy and water and could reduce landscape watering and fertilizing costs if you make use of the finished product.
- Ice Machine cooled by a stream of watering running down the drain. Equipment cooled by a stream of water running down the drain can waste hundreds or thousands of dollars a year. We can measure the flows and show you how much you can save with replacement equipment. Ice machine savings can be as much as $1,000 year.
- Irrigation Systems Irrigation schedule not based on plant water needs in each zone and not modified to follow seasonal watering needs. Your irrigation system may have never had a landscape irrigation audit to determine that it is not wasting water. Many systems use 30% or more water than they need which leads to excess water bills and sometimes leads to increased plant diseases.
- Laundry - Commercial Size Older machines and Residential Size Older vertical axis machine that is used regularly
- Unexplained Increase in Water Use Sudden, unknown increase in the water bill that is higher than the bill for the same time last year even though no known changes have occurred to impact water use.We can carry out a number of simple, low cost leak tests as well as more detailed tests.
- Process Water (Industrial Facility) No reuse of process water
- Reverse Osmosis equipment
- Refrigeration Condenser cooled by a stream of watering running down the drain.
- Refrigeration equipment cooled by a single stream of water.
- Restroom Faucets Faucets with flows of 1 gallon per minute or greater
- Showers Showerheads with flows of 2.5 gallons per minute or greater
- Toilets Toilets using 1.6 gallons or more per flush. Many people are resistant to purchasing low flush toilets because they have had problems with poorly functioning models. We can help you choose toilets that have passed stringent testing standards.
- Urinals Urinals using 2 gallons or more per flush
- Tank Vacuum Pump Vacuum pump cooled by a stream of water running down the drain
Watershed LLC can help estimate the costs, savings,and best equipment choices associated with replacing or modifying the use of this type of equipment.
- If you suspect that your equipment has these high usage rates, but are not sure, we can help determine the usage rates for you.
-Feel free to give us a call to discuss these savings possibilities and how we can be of assistance to you. (206) 406-7153
Water Conservation Award and Testimonial
In 2010 Michael Laurie received the Watershed Conservation Leadership Award. The award honors those in the Puget Sound Region who have made significant contributions toward encouraging water conservation and who have worked diligently to develop water conservation programs, activities, education and/or policy.
14 February 2011Subject: Reference for Michael Laurie and Watershed LLC
To Whom It May Concern:In late summer of 2009, Michael Laurie of Watershed, LLC, performed a thorough water conservation audit of domestic usage at our Main Campus facility. Our Main Campus is a 500,000 sf foot acute care facility encompassing three multi-story patient towers, Cardiovascular/Surgery floors and in-house Dietary/Cafeteria services. We use approximately 2.6 million cubic feet of water per year.Michael's study identified several measures for improving the efficiency of our water use, one of which we elected to implement immediately. As a result of his work, we were able to install an economizer on one of our sterilizers, take advantage of a rebate from the City of Bellingham in a very tight window of opportunity and recognize an immediate payback on savings.
The following year, Michael was back performing a conservation audit on our landscape irrigation system. Once again, his work identified numerous inefficiencies in our system that have been targeted for correction this spring. Among those corrections will be segregating bedding irrigation zones from turf zones and replacement of old water hungry heads for more miserly heads with better spray distribution.We've greatly appreciated Michael's work and have his reports on file for future referencing of water saving upgrades that we can implement.
I highly recommend him and his team for their professionalism and quality work in assessing cost-effective water conservation measures for your facilities.Please feel free to call on me for personal verification.
Sincerely, R Scott Dorough, CEM Resource Conservation Manager
Peace Health
St Joseph Medical Center
2901 Squalicum Pkwy
Bellingham, WA 98225
360-788-6350 office
360-410-8065 mobile
Rainwater, Storm Water, Rain Gardens
Mr. Laurie has consulted on several rainwater systems. He is currently working on a number of designs for rainwater collection. He designed, installed, and has made use of a rainwater collection system at his home for over 8 years. In 2008 he became one of the first people in the Pacific Northwest to pass the requirements to become a Rainwater Catchment Systems Accredited Professional.
Rain Gardens: Mr. Laurie has installed 2 rain gardens at his home and has several years experience with their operation and maintenance. In March 2015 he attended the three day training for Seattle's RainWise program.
In the Fall of 2008, he co-taught a class on rain garden design.
Recent Photos