Universal Orlando cuts back on water due to COVID-related oxygen shortage

[Disney4me]

Faced with a potential city-wide crisis, Universal Orlando, one of the Orlando Utilities Commission’s major customers, has cut back on cleaning, landscape irrigation and even dishwashing to save water.

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Universal Orlando cuts back on water due to COVID-related oxygen shortage

A view of the Krakatau volcano, the centerpiece water attraction at Universal Orlando’s Volcano Bay, during a media preview, Wednesday, May 24, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. Volcano Bay is Universal Orlando’s newest park and opens to the public on Thursday. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) 2776940 (Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel)

 

Faced with a potential citywide crisis, Universal Orlando, one of the Orlando Utilities Commission’s major customers, has cut back on cleaning, landscape irrigation and even dishwashing to save water.

The moves came after the city of Orlando and OUC asked residents and businesses to start conserving water in late August due to a pandemic-related shortage of liquid oxygen.

The resort is among OUC’s 10 largest commercial customers and the only theme park it supplies with drinking water, OUC spokesperson Tim Trudell said.

Universal has started spot-cleaning parts of its theme parks instead of hosing down broad areas and reduced its potable water usage in irrigation, resort spokesman Tom Schroder said in an email.

The resort’s onsite hotels began using paper products in employee cafeterias to cut down on dishwashing, turned off potable water sprinklers and delayed pressure and window washing, he said.

Universal already employs an “aggressive” water conservation system between using recycled and repurified water in its rides and pools and reclaimed water for most of its irrigation, Schroder said.

Universal’s repurified water is processed using liquid chlorine, he said. The resort does not use liquid oxygen, which is employed in a higher-end treatment process for drinking water used less commonly than chlorine treatment systems.

“We have been working directly with OUC on this issue and we are significantly expanding our efforts,” Schroder said. “This will include significant reduction of exterior cleaning and watering schedules as well as a review of all our water use for opportunities to conserve even more.”

According to OUC, irrigation is responsible for 40% of customers’ potable water usage. Customers using well or reclaimed water in irrigation are not included in the company’s request to limit water usage because the water comes from different systems.

In addition to its routine water usage for irrigation, cleaning and dining across the resort, Universal Orlando operates three water rides at its regular theme parks and runs over a dozen attractions at its Volcano Bay water park.

Schroder declined to comment further when asked for more details on the resort’s water conservation efforts, including how long the interim measures would be in place or how much water it is saving.

Trudell referred questions on the resort’s water processing system to Universal. He did not immediately provide specific figures on Universal’s water usage.

Though Universal is among the commission’s largest commercial customers, OUC’s major business clients use a relatively small percentage of water output, Trudell said. OUC’s average daily output across Orlando has been reduced from about 90 million gallons per day to nearly 80 million in recent weeks.

But across Orlando, overall water consumption has still not declined to a sustainable level amid the shortage of liquid oxygen, which is used in OUC’s water treatment process. Orlando residents and businesses could soon have to boil water before drinking it if conditions do not improve.

With the number of hospitalized COVID patients spiking in recent weeks, increased demand for supplemental oxygen has led to a liquid oxygen shortage. Further supply chain issues, including fewer available tanker trucks and drivers to transport the material, have intensified regional scarcities.

Orlando’s other major theme parks do not use liquid oxygen in their water purification processes, resort spokespeople said.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District supplies Disney’s water. It uses both reclaimed and potable water, records show, but a Reedy Creek spokesperson did not respond when asked for details on the water system.

SeaWorld uses well and non-treated water for its irrigation, spokesperson Lori Cherry said.

All of the resort’s water systems, including the aquariums and Infinity Falls raft ride, operate as closed, recirculated systems, she said.

krice@orlandosentinel.com

 

 

Katie Rice

Orlando Sentinel