Wastewater Heat Recovery

An energy efficient strategy to lowering operational costs in the built environment

Recover and reuse heat energy with Epic Cleantec

Harness the power of wastewater to lower costs and conserve resources.

From showers, to handwashing, to dishwashing, and laundry, it’s estimated we send enough energy down our drains to power 30 million homes. Residential and commercial buildings account for 75% of the U.S. electricity consumption and in 2021, 13.3% of total residential energy consumption went toward heating water. It takes billions of kWh of energy to heat up water, but that water is typically used just once before being discarded down the drain, along with all the excess heat energy. Science tells us that heat is energy, so how can we use it to its full potential? The answer is wastewater heat recovery.

 

Image of street showing steam escaping from manhole
San Francisco city skyline

Capture heat energy at the building level for maximum impact

Lower your energy demand and reduce your project’s carbon footprint.

Wastewater is a clean, renewable energy source. There is huge potential to create energy efficient buildings through the addition of a circular wastewater heat recovery system to lower the hot water energy demand. The key is to capture the heat energy within the wastewater while it’s still warm, which means capturing it at the building level. Reusing wastewater heat makes buildings more energy-efficient and is a third-generation renewable energy technology.

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Epic Cleantec wastewater heat recovery technology

How we collect and store energy for beneficial reuse in your building.

Epic Cleantec offers wastewater heat recovery options for the built environment. Our systems can be standalone products or coupled with our onsite water reuse technology for full resource recovery. Learn more about our technology.

Wastewater collected from buildings is stored at a temperature between 70 and 80 degrees, which is typically 20 to 30 degrees hotter than the incoming municipal potable water. That heat can be transferred to the plumbing or hydronic systems via a heat exchanger, thereby reducing the load on those systems and leading to energy savings. The energy usage of the domestic hot water system, in some cases, can be reduced by up to 30%.

process graphic for how wastewater heat recovery works

Lower operational costs and increase building performance

Implementing an onsite wastewater reuse system with heat recovery can enhance water recycling efforts, save on water and energy costs, insulate against rising utility costs, and reduce reliance on overburdened centralized infrastructure.

Any building with hot water fixtures can utilize wastewater heat recovery, however, projects that will see the biggest economic benefit are multifamily residential, hotels, student housing, sporting/event venues and wineries.

  • Extract up to 24 kW per 1,000 gallons of wastewater processed
  • Integrated into Epic’s OneWaterTM system for a single control panel with SCADA monitoring & data access
  • Fully automated, maximizing system uptime while reducing operational cost burden
  • Skid mounted system easily installed and incorporated into the building
  • Reduce energy demand by up to 30%
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