Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market expects to reduce water consumption 30 percent across its stores by installing EnviroTower water conditioning systems. The system has already been installed in 37 locations and will be incorporated into all new stores, including the nine stores opening in California next month.
The company's refrigeration systems were using roughly 850,000 gallons of water per year. With the installation of the EnviroTower system, water consumption has dropped to less than 600,000 gallons per year. The supermarket chain says similar refrigeration systems typically use 2 to 3 million gallons of water per year.
The EnviroTower system also helps with energy efficiency, reducing the amount of energy used on refrigeration by up to 5 percent. Fresh & Easy says its stores already use about 30 percent less energy than a typical supermarket, which translates into a $3 million savings.
EnviroTower reduces fresh water use through a physical water conditioning system, which enables more efficient use of water that is normally chemically treated and discharged to municipal sewage. In addition, by keeping the water in the system clean and reducing harmful buildup, the system also improves energy efficiency.
Fresh & Easy also has implemented several projects to cut down on its energy use. As an example, in May, the supermarket chain launched a project to have all medium temperature cases in its 159 stores retrofitted with LED lighting to help cut down on energy use.
The supermarkets use LED lighting in external signs and freezer cases, recycle or reuse all of their display packaging and offer customer recycling.
Fresh & Easy opened its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certified store last year and is a pilot member of the LEED Volume Certification Program. It also invested $13 million in a 500,000 sq.-ft. solar roof installation at its distribution center in Riverside, Calif.
