Program Puts Water Conservation On The Menu

BROOKSVILLE - It turns out John and Lilly Mundreanu's customers aren't as thirsty as the couple thought they might be.

The Mundreanus used to serve gigantic glasses of water to every customer who sat down at John's Corner Restaurant, the eatery on Broad Street they opened two years ago.

"Very few people drank that tall glass of water," Lilly Mundreanu recalled.

Many patrons didn't even put a dent in them. So last month, the couple switched to smaller glasses and started asking customers if they wanted water at all.

They haven't received a water bill since making the switch, but there are other ways to tell that the restaurant is conserving, Lilly says: "I can see it in my ice machine."

It's the kind of simple step that the Southwest Florida Water Management District recommends as part of its new Water Program for Restaurant Outreach, or Water PRO.

The goal is to show restaurant owners that water saved is money earned, said Robin Grantham, the program's coordinator.

The district, known as Swiftmud, launched Water PRO last week in conjunction with National Tourism Week and 10 have already signed up in the district's 16-county area.

The first among them? John's Corner Restaurant.

The Mundreanus found out about the program through a district staffer who came in for lunch one day and noticed the water glasses had gotten smaller.

"I think it's a good idea considering the drought we've been having," Lilly said. "People need to wake up."

The program is comprised of "simple but efficient actions" as basic as running dishwashers only when full, Grantham said.

Swiftmud provides free educational materials such as coasters and table signs featuring tips on how to save water, as well as children's coloring sheets. The district also offers checklists for restaurant owners and managers to do their own self-audits.

The average restaurant can use 5,800 gallons of water each day, according to Swiftmud. That's more than 2 million gallons each year.

A low-flow spray valve in the kitchen can save as much as $1,320 a year, Grantham said. The district also recommends low-volume faucets and toilets in bathrooms, and to take another look at landscaping.

Water PRO is a companion program to one started in 2002 for hotels and motels. A main feature of that initiative is to give guests the option to reuse their towels and forgo daily linen changes.

Back at John's Corner Restaurant, the Mundreanus are ahead of the game.

They'd already remodeled the 70-seat eatery's restrooms, using low-flow toilets and faucets. The landscaping around their sign out front consists of a little mulch. And they make sure their dishwasher is completely full before running a load.

"We hope all the restaurants are going to jump in," John Mundreanu said.