Industrial, Commercial & Institutional (ICI)

The Industrial, Commercial, Institutional (ICI) program was developed to help industries, businesses, and institutions improve water efficiency.

Important Topics

Since June 2016, all new construction of state buildings and institutions of higher education facilities will be required to abide by the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) water efficiency standards as directed by the 77th Texas Legislative session.

To quantify the effectiveness of water conservation techniques of your water management plan, refer to TWDB's guidance portfolio.

Industrial

Water consumption by industries, whether supplied by others or self-supplied from surface or groundwater sources, can be varied in amount of use, rate of use, and opportunities for efficiency.

The wide variety in the types of water uses, the size of facilities, and the types of activities at different industrial facilities makes it difficult to compare one water user to another.

Each industrial water user should evaluate water use and efficiency potential at its own facility(s). As a result, the initial recommended Best Management Practice (BMP) for all industrial water users is the Industrial Water Audit BMP where the user identifies the relationships between all water coming into the facility and the various uses of water within.

Additional Industrial BMPs focus on the most economical changes to improve efficiency, water use monitoring, and reducing water used in cooling.

All Industrial BMPs can be found here.

Commercial and Institutional

Commercial use is defined as the use of water by a place of business, such as retail sales establishments, a hotel, restaurant, or office building. This does not include multi-family residences or agricultural, or industrial users.

Institutional use is defined as the use of water by an establishment dedicated to public service, such as a school, university, church, hospital, nursing home, park, prison, or government facility. All facilities dedicated to public service are considered institutional regardless of ownership.

Water consumption by commercial and institutional facilities is varied in the amount of use, rate of use, and opportunities for efficiency.  However, commercial and institutional facilities typically use water in the six following areas, as applicable: restrooms, laundries, cooling and heating, landscapes, recreation, and kitchens.

To conserve water efficiently, commercial and institutional facilities should develop a water management plan.

All Commericial and Institutional BMPs can be found here.


Additional ICI Resources | Commercial & Institutional FAQs

For additional information, please contact TWDB's Municipal Water Conservation team at wcpteam@twdb.texas.gov or 512-475-1639.

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