New Technologies Are Saving Water During Household Chores

By Libby Smith

DENVER (CBS4) - At Revolution Cleaners in Denver, hundreds of loads of laundry get washed every week.

"We are an environmentally friendly dry cleaner," said Michael Poeschl, the general manager of Revolution Cleaners.

For the last year, Revolution has extended it's mission to include saving water. They're using a washing machine called Xeros.

LINK: The Xeros Machine

"We're going to save approximately 250,000 gallons of water a year just from that one machine," Poeschl told CBS4.

It looks like any other washer, but this one uses polymer beads to draw the dirt out of the clothes.

"We use it primarily for shirt laundry...so mens dress shirts," Poeschl explained.

Each wash uses 1.3 million of the tiny little beads. They mix with a special detergent and about 80 percent less water than a standard commercial machine. Then the beads are rinsed and stored, they can do as many as 1,000 washes before they're recycled.

"We have not noticed any reduction in the quality of the cleaning that would absolutely be something that would impact our decision to keep the machine," Poeschl explained.

"We feel the future is about using the right amount of water to get the job done," said Jeff Tejral, manager of conservation for Denver Water.

LINK: Denver Water

Denver Water sees this kind of technology as the next step in water conservation.

"We don't want people sacrificing performance or quality of life, but we feel there are ways of getting lower water use and sometimes that means using no water at all," Tejral said.

The Xeros doesn't completely cut water out of the wash process, but what it does use is just a drop in the bucket.

For now, Xeros machines are only available for commercial use, but the company is working toward one-day making a household version.

Libby Smith is a Special Projects Producer at CBS4. If you have a story you'd like to tell CBS4 about, call 303-863-TIPS (8477) or visit the News Tips section.