The school cook, professional chef in a five star restaurant, and the large scale caterer understand the importance of water in a kitchen. Water use in a commercial setting accumulates much faster than residential kitchen water use. Water use also effects energy use, as energy is required for water heating. Installing a low flow commercial kitchen sprayer is a simple, cost effective way to decrease the amount of water used as well as the amount of energy necessary for water heating.
Tasks such as washing the dishes and rinsing fruits and vegetables do not require as much water as is typically used. A flow control valve can be used to complete such tasks. The Food Service Technology Center (FSTC) suggests a commercial kitchen sprayer with a flow rate of 1.6 gallons per minute (GPM). This flow rate allows you to reduce the amount of water necessary to complete kitchen tasks.
Water savings, energy savings, and pocket savings result from replacing a high pressure spray valve with a low pressure water control valve. The amount of water saved every day in a kitchen that uses a spray valve for at least 3 hours a day is 180 gallons. This amounts to 1.5 therms/day of savings with gas water heaters. The reduction in water and energy use easily translates to as much as $1,050 of savings every year. Food service institutions can benefit greatly from replacing their current spray rinse valves with a more water-friendly commercial kitchen sprayer. The flow control valve pays for itself many times over with the water and energy savings you quickly accumulate.