In 2021, King County Waste Water Treatment Division began reviewing applications for those interested in their sewer heat recovery pilot program, a program that promotes reusing heat provided by sewer pipes. “The Wastewater Treatment Division is the first in Washington state and one of the first wastewater utilities in the nation to offer sewer heat recovery (SHR). Private commercial property owners and developers can recover heat energy from our sewer pipes for heating or cooling their buildings. SHR technology is fairly common in Europe and parts of Canada, but standardized SHR use agreements are pioneering in the United States.”
The program was opened to any projects located within the King County service area and applicants were made up of property owners and developers who wanted to adopt a more sustainable energy source to heat their properties. So what exactly is sewer heat recovery and how does it work? As stated on the King County website, “Warm and hot wastewater flushed from homes and businesses is a significant energy source. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 350 billion kilowatt-hours of heat energy are flushed down the drains in the United States every year—roughly enough to power 30 million homes.
Through this technology, a portion of wastewater is captured in an underground holding tank where its heat energy is transferred in a heat exchanger, which allows a heat pump to extract that energy and transport it to a connected building’s domestic hot water or heating or cooling system.”
While reusing energy from sewers is only just beginning to gain traction as a reliable and renewable alternative heating option, the possibilities and benefits that it could offer are exciting for other cities in King County like Renton. For eligible properties or Renton plumbing projects, sewer heat recovery technology can assist with lowering a building’s carbon emissions and reduce the environmental footprint of the building. Since sewage and wastewater are essentially continuously renewed resources, there would likely be a reduction in energy costs for business or property owners who switched to sewer heat recovery methods.
More and more, sustainable and renewable energy options continue to be a priority for home and property owners in Renton. It’s never too late to start considering your environmental footprint or to find ways to live more energy efficiently at home. There are many small steps that you can take that would help such as swapping out your bathroom fixtures for a more efficient one, repairing leaks, or even installing a newer water heater or furnace.
Trusted Plumbing & Heating offers exceptional Renton plumbing and heating services. If you’re interested in making your home’s heating or plumbing system less wasteful and more efficient, then call us today for a 5-minute quote or to schedule an appointment.