WATER CONSUMPTION ANALYSIS & SERVICE PROPOSAL...toilets. At the current City of Chicago price of water and sewer of $0.0076 per gallon, this water costs the Association $22,316 each

WATER CONSUMPTION ANALYSIS & SERVICE PROPOSAL

Quadrangle 6700 S. South Shore Dr.

Chicago, IL 60649

July 17, 2017

Onsite Utility Services Capital | 750 Veterans Parkway, Suite 104 | Lake Geneva, WI 53147

July 17, 2017

Quadrangle House Condos 6700 S. South Shore Dr. Chicago, IL 60649

ATTN: REF: Quadrangle Water Assessment Report

Dear :

Onsite Utility Services Capital (OUS Capital) is pleased to present you with the enclosed water assessment findings and service proposal. The report includes assessing the amount of water billed, unaccounted-for water and identifying sources of wasted water within the facility, while the service proposal provides a solution for addressing the water issues within the facility.

A visual inspection of the common areas of the facility was conducted on May 17, 2017. An ultrasonic auxiliary water meter was installed on the facility’s incoming water main on 6/9/17 and removed on 6/13/17. OUS Capital utilized DRF Trusted Property Solutions to complete this inspection and assist in the analysis. Additional information used in the analysis was collected from the City of Chicago. We’d like to thank you for your help with collecting information and data. We appreciate the opportunity to assist with this important project. Respectfully,

Fritz Kreiss President

Encl


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section – Description Page

Section 1 – Scope of Work ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5 1.1 General…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 5 1.2 Purpose of Water Assessment …………………………………………………………………………………………. 5

1.3 Assessment Includes…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5

Section 2 – External / Common Area Assessments……………………………….….…………………………………………. 8

2.1 Description of Inspections…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8 2.2 Table of Findings……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8 2.3 Results and Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………………….

Section 3 – Water Rates and Billing History Review…….……………………………………………………………………….

3.1 Water Rates ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 10 3.2 Water Bill Historical Review ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 14

Section 4 – Water Assessment Results ………….……………………………………………………………………………………. 18

4.1 Water and Sewer Savings………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19

Section 5 – Recommendations ………….……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 20 5.1 Water As-a-Service Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………. 21


SECTION 1

SCOPE OF WORK


1.1 General Onsite Utility Services Capital (OUS Capital) was brought onboard to complete a water assessment of the water usages at Quadrangle House Condo building located at 6700 S. South Shore Dr., Chicago, IL 60649. In completing this, OUS utilized the services of DRF Trusted Property Solutions. The project includes assessing the amount of lost water both in the common and exterior areas as well as for 262 units. This report identifies potential sources of lost water and estimates system performance indicators including common area leakage. Additional fact gathering within the units is highly recommended to further identify leaks.

1.2 Purpose of Water Assessment The purpose of the water assessment is to quantify the amount of water being used at the Quadrangle building by identifying ways in which to reduce water usage, leakages and possible meter and billing errors as water rates increase. Sources of lost water may include:

• Leaking toilets in-unit • Tub spout diverters • Leaking faucets • Common area leaks • Exterior leaks • Inaccurate Meters • Billing Errors

1.3 Assessment Includes

• Collect and review a minimum of two-year site water bill history • Determine if any leaks/meter issues started prior to the water bills provided • Compare water usage to available averages, determining usage is equal to/slightly higher than national

averages • In Illinois, per-capita apartment use ranges are 30-100 gallons per day as per cmap.illinois.gov • Complete physical inspection of property common areas • Complete exterior site assessment to identify visible water leaks • Obtain water main piping plan from City water department if possible • Verify integrity of existing meters through meter monitoring and assessment • Audit the meter flow rates utilizing an externally mounted ultrasonic POE meter


1.3 Assessment Includes (Continued)

• Analyze gathered field data, billing rates, and estimated billings against actual readings to determine

if and where any variances exist • If results indicate the need, retain an ultrasonic leak detection company to survey the exterior

water main network. (T&M with approval if needed) • Complete site specific water consumption analysis • Establish a baseline usage datum utilizing ultrasonic POE metering equipment • Complete analysis of savings, simple payback and return on investment • Provide comprehensive written analysis and report of findings with recommended actions

including calculated ROI for actions • Monitor and quantify water usage after improvements to confirm consumption reductions


SECTION 2

EXTERNAL / COMMON AREA ASSESSMENT


2.1 Description of Inspections Common area and external inspections included the following:

• Two first floor public washrooms single tanked toilet and lavatory in each • One first floor meeting room with full kitchen and a public bathroom. One tanked toilet,

one lavatory, one kitchen sink, and one dishwasher • One utility faucet located in first floor garbage room

• 28th

floor laundry room with one utility sink • 28

th floor utility room with one utility sink

• 28th

floor garbage shoot sprinkler on a switched control • 28th floor boiler room with three boilers and one DHW heat exchanger with ½” make up

water connection with backflow preventer • One single 3” water meter located in basement mechanical room • Hose outlet line run thru parking garage hung from ceiling (seasonal service)

2.2 Findings Common Areas:

• No irrigation system on this site • Water service comes into building in the Northwest corner • All common area fixtures in good working order

Parking garage:

• No visible water leaks were seen in the common areas or where the incoming main was exposed in the garage

• There is no underground water piping after the city water meter • No water leaks in the piping were visualized


SECTION 3

WATER RATES AND BILL HISTORY REVIEW


3.1 Water and Sewer rates

Water and sewer rates have increased for the City of Chicago. From the City of Chicago website, water rates

began to increase in 2008 and will continue to do so through 2020 and beyond. The following screen shots were

taken from the City of Chicago website: https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/fin/supp_info/utility-billing/water-and-sewer-rates.html



https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/fin/supp_info/utility-billing/utility-tax-faq.html

Onsite Utility Services Capital | 750 Veterans Parkway, Suite 104| Lake Geneva, WI 53147

3.2 Water Bill History

A 2-year water bill assessment was conducted. The calculated rate was confirmed as what the City of Chicago charges and are as follows: As can be seen in the table above, water consumption was very consistent for the last 2 years. The bimonthly consumption and cost is consistent as well as depicted in the flowing graph.


3.2 Water Bill History (Continued) Consumption, as seen from the external ultrasonic metering device tells a different story.

A reading was taken every 60 seconds from the ultrasonic metering device. A total of 5,781 data points were

taken over a 4 day period. Each data point represents a date and time when the ultrasonic meter took a reading

of the water flow in gallons per minute. Start and Stop times were noted as well as midnight times to indicate

the 24hr day time period. The ultrasonic metering information was then correlated to City of Chicago metering

and it was determined the City metering and the ultrasonic metering were within 1.75% of each other.

What is seen in the graph is the water flow rate never approaches zero. In a perfect situation, a leak free water

distribution system would get to a zero flow rate, but water distributions systems have leaks and a building with

262 units, the residents may be using water at all times. The building’s water distribution system should have a

very low flow rate at times of inactivity, typically during midafternoon and after midnight. The minimum flow

was 21.06 gal/min, reducing this minimum flow rate by 20% to account for minimal leaks and actual water use

brings the leak rate to 16.8 gal/min. With this leak rate of 16.8 gal/min, the following loss numbers are

staggering.


3.2 Water Bill History (Continued) A leak rate of 16.8 gal/min equates to the following: 24,261 gal/day 1,504,153 gal/billing period (62 days) 8,803,787 gal/year

On an annual basis, 8,803,787 gallons of water going down the drain equates to $67,893. Of the last 12 months of water billing, $137,993, this wasted water equates to 49.2% of your water billing.

The water leaks appear to be in-unit and a full determination will not be known until unit inspections are completed.

The water consumption would be far less if the leaks were addressed. The following graph shows where the flows would be less the minimum of 16.8 gal/min. The blue line is the flow rate less leaks and where the water use should be.


3.2 Water Bill History (Continued) The following graph is the water bill with consumption and costs associated with the leaks.

An incredible amount of water is being wasted at a cost of $67,893 each year over the past 2 years.


3.2 Water Bill History (Continued) As a comparison, 6 other properties were compared to Quadrangle, 4 were provided by OUS and 2 were provided by DRF. A comparison of what the billing and unit use without the leaks is also included.


Condo

Apartment EPA finds that

20% to 40% of all toilets leak.

SECTION 4

WATER ASSESSMENT RESULTS The assessment has determined, in-unit water leaks are occurring as no water leaks were noted in the inspection of the building exterior and exposed water piping in the garage. The likely culprits are the toilets in each unit. An in unit inspection would confirm our belief the toilets our leaking. The building residents are paying 49.2% more for water and sewer use, which equates to $67,893 in the last 12 months. Additionally, it is believed that the toilets in each unit are older, inefficient models that are wasting at least 2.7 gallons of water per flush, which amounts to $17,215 of additional water and sewer expense over the last 12 months based on 1.75 occupants per condo and standard EPA water use assumptions. This specific analysis is shown on the following page, Water and Sewer Savings. On this spreadsheet, you will find given assumptions of 1 toilet per unit, 1.75 tenants per unit flushing an EPA estimated 5 times per day, using a 3.5 gallon toilet, the building currently uses a little more than 2.9 million gallons of water annually just to operate toilets. At the current City of Chicago price of water and sewer of $0.0076 per gallon, this water costs the Association $22,316 each year. If we replace the existing toilets with Niagara Corp. Stealth High Efficiency Toilets (detailed in Section 5), which require only 0.8 gallons to operate, we reduce the water consumed by almost 2.3 million gallons to 669,410. This water will cost $5,101 to Association tenants, creating a savings of $17,216 during the first year. These savings then grow as the rate the City of Chicago charges for water and sewer services rises over the next several years. Through the combination of leaking and inefficient in-unit toilets, building residents are paying $85,108 of additional water and sewer fees annually simply because they are using outdated toilets.


SECTION 5

RECOMMENDATIONS

It is recommended that in-unit existing toilet fixtures, which are both inefficient and leaking, be replaced with modern, high efficiency toilet fixtures that meet the current US standard for plumbing fixtures. This will virtually eliminate the water and sewer losses due to leaking, while also reducing water use by 75%. OUS further recommends that these upgrades be undertaken on an Water Savings as-a-Service basis, as this will require the use of no capital or debt to complete, and allow for positive cash flow from day one. Enclosed on the following page is a summary of these upgrades and their economic ramifications. OUS would handle the complete removal and disposal of exiting toilet fixtures in all units, supply Niagra Corp Stealth High Efficiency toilets plus all installation and hookup of new toilets. https://niagaracorp.com/stealth/ . The toilet comes with a 10 year warranty and more information can be found in the attached flyer. As the attached summary shows, the savings generated by this upgrade will more than cover the service payment, providing the Association with over $42,000 of savings in the first year, increasing to over $70,000 in year four, and over ten years, the Association would be expected to pocket over $1.1 million without spending a dime of your own capital. The As-a-Service option has built in a rebate for the cost of the water study and analysis performed here, valued at $6,000.


https://niagaracorp.com/stealth/

Documents

WATER CONSUMPTION ANALYSIS & SERVICE PROPOSAL...toilets. At the current City of Chicago price of water and sewer of $0.0076 per gallon, this water costs the Association $22,316 each