This week whilst visiting Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) titanium operation in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa, I had a chance to reflect on the energy waste that is all around us. I asked my Ensight Energy Solutions team of 15 amazing engineers this question: How much power does a typical swimming pool pump motor use? The answer came back, this “it is about 1,000 watts”.
Then I asked them this question: How much power, using the laws of physics does a pool require to circulate the water from the pool, through a pool filter and back to the pool? An engineer yelled out. “350 watts”, “too high” I said, another yelled out “250 watts”, “too high,” I said, another yelled out 100 watts, “too high,” I said. A look of astonishment came on their faces. I said, “The real answer is around 40 watts”. “No way”, was their shocked response. So we only need 40 watts to circulate water through a filter, but we use 1,000 watts. This process and energy application is about 96% energy waste. Why?
There is a logical explanation, based on a long history of cheap and readily available electricity. The pump is designed for a job that is done for 5 minutes a week, not the job done for 8 hours per day. The job done for 5 minutes a week is to backwash the filter, and it needs the 1,000 watts to lift the sand off its bed with reverse water flow.
Let’s look at South Africa, it has a 1,000,000 homes with swimming pools, each has around a 1,000 watt swimming pool pump operating 8 hours a day. Each pool pump would cost around R4,500 per year to operate. Now that means that pool pump owners are spending R4.5 billion per year of pool filtering energy and 4.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions. Consider that 96% of this expenditure is wasted, that means that collectively South Africa is wasting R4.32 billion (USD360 million) and 4.32 million tonnes of carbon per year, just on one simple device.
Look around you, and you may see similar prolific waste. I assert that energy efficiency can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 50% profitably and cost effectively.
