International Wastewater Systems has developed a sewage heat recovery system for large residential and commercial buildings that delivers efficiency savings five times the investment.
The sewage, once it’s captured and the solids are removed, is put through a heat exchanger and used to produce 140 degree Fahrenheit water for domestic potable use. The process is 500 percent efficient, according to a report by HPAC Engineering.
The system aims to stem the large amount of hot water wasted each year. IWS says the average North American household flushes one full tank of hot water down the drain every day. In a city with 1 million homes, that’s the equivalent of about $500,000 in energy from natural gas that’s wasted every day.
IWS’s system, known as SHARC, is custom-built or constructed with new buildings. The company has also developed another prepackaged unit that can be retrofitted onto existing buildings. This version was originally produced to help the European market improve its energy footprint by 25 percent, a legal requirement for any building that is updated, HPAC reported.