Wastewater Agency Implements Submetering, Joins Better Plants Challenge

The Bucks County Water and Sewer Agency (BCWSA), a regional water/wastewater treatment authority in the Philadelphia area, has signed up as a DOE Better Buildings, Better Plants Challenge partner to implement a corporate-wide, energy efficiency program at eight of its largest facilities.

Under the program BCWSA has set a goal to improve corporate energy intensity by 25 percent over ten years and share lessons learned and innovative energy-saving solutions with the market.

A spokesman for DOE said the BCWSA has already initiated the following projects:

• Installation of a low-impact hydropower turbine to generate ~50 kW
• Implementation of submetering and real-time data collection of energy data. BCWSA will share data and best practices related to this system and how it facilitates greater energy efficiency implementation.

This latest engagement builds on BCWSA’s longstanding efforts to improve its energy efficiency. In 2012, the agency became the first water/wastewater agency in the US to implement a Watergy project with the Alliance to Save Energy. As part of this project, BCWSA created an energy management system aligned with the ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard.