Fresh & Easy aims to reduce in-store water consumption by 30%

El Segundo, Calif. Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has embarked on an ambitious plan to reduce water consumption in its stores by 30% through the use of EnviroTower water conditioning technology.

The system has already been installed in 37 Fresh & Easy locations and will be incorporated into all new stores, including the nine Fresh & Easy stores opening in California next month.

According to Fresh & Easy, on average, its store already use 30% less energy than a typical supermarket and the company’s refrigeration systems were using roughly 850,000 gallons of water per year. With the installation of the EnviroTower system, that usage has dropped to less than 600,000 gallons per year. Similar refrigeration systems typically use 2 million to 3 million gallons of water per year. The EnviroTower system also helps with energy efficiency, reducing the amount of energy Fresh & Easy uses on refrigeration by up to 5%.

“Incorporating EnviroTower’s technology into our stores makes sense, not just as part of our commitment to the environment, but also help us save money so we can keep our prices low for our customers,” said Steve Hagen, director of procurement and engineering, Fresh & Easy, which operates more than 150 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada. “Conserving water is a very important issue in California, Nevada and Arizona. We are happy to play our part in reducing our consumption of this valuable and limited resource.”

EnviroTower provide a reliable, effective and economical alternative to traditional chemical water treatment for refrigeration and air conditioning cooling systems. It dramatically reduces fresh water use through a physical water conditioning system -- meaning water that is normally chemically treated and discharged to municipal sewage is used more efficiently, the company explained. By keeping the water in the system clean and reducing harmful buildup, EnviroTower also improves energy efficiency.