Water is a scare resource which, depending on the facility, can be a significant portion of the overall utility budget. With stricter water quality standards, scarcer water supplies, and growing water demand, it has become increasingly important for manufacturing sites to understand their water use and manage it deliberately. The Better Plants program has developed a special series of INPLTs for this purpose.Â
The Better Plants program will deliver virtual trainings for Industrial Water Reduction (Industrial Water VTs) from Jun 16 to Aug 4, 2026. The Industrial Water VTs will be performed online by industrial water experts and energy reduction experts. The Industrial Water VTs comprise eight (8) 2.5-hour online training sessions (2-hours formal training and optional 0.5-hour Q&A) that will be delivered every Tuesday 10:00 AM–12:30 PM ET for eight (8) consecutive weeks. Participating in the VTs is free and open to all Better Plants partners. Â
Participants will be trained on water system fundamentals and undertake a facility-level water assessment, including hands-on training on the Plant Water Profiler (PWP) tool. To maximize the benefits from attending VINPLTs, homework assignments will be given to the participants at the end of each session and will be due by the next session. These homework assignments are designed to enhance participants’ understanding of industrial water systems, as well as to identify and quantify water savings opportunities. For the last session of the VINPLT, participants are expected to create a summary presentation based on the assessment of their facility, present findings, and share the scrubbed version with DOE.Â
At the completion of the VT, Professional Development Hours (PDHs) Certificates will be prepared for the attendees upon request. Participants are expected to collect measurements/data from water using systems in their own facilities perform a water assessment and identify water reduction opportunities with help from the instructors. To collect the assessment data, diagnostic equipment can be arranged and shipped to the partner’s facility. The Better Plants diagnostic equipment is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Jun 16 to Aug 4, 2026; every Tuesday 10:00 AM–12:30 PM ET (2-hour formal training + optional 0.5-hour Q&A)
Week 1 – Introduction to Industrial Water Assessment; Jun 16, 2026
An introduction to industrial water-assessment fundamentals, water baselining, and the true cost of water. Participants will learn to identify their facility’s water risk, chart facility-level water flows, and use the Water Assessment Module in MEASUR.Â
Week 2 – Understanding System Level Water Use; Jun 23, 2026
An overview of system-level water use, during which participants will be briefed on typical water-using systems (industrial processes, cooling towers, boilers, etc.), learn about the measurements needed to quantify consumption, and explore DOE software and hardware tools for monitoring water consumption.Â
Week 3 – True Cost of Water; Jun 30, 2026
An instruction on completing the remaining aspects of the water-baselining activity and discussion on the true cost of water will be delivered by training experts, who will also address common data-collection challenges and outline the measurements required to determine true water costs using the MEASUR tool. Â
Week 4 – PWP Tool: Working Session; Jul 7, 2026
A collaboration with experts to complete the facility’s water baseline and determine the true cost of water using the MEASUR tool will guide this session, followed by a discussion on water-flow nuances and resolution of any facility-level water imbalances. Â
Week 5 – Identifying Water Savings Opportunity; Jul 14, 2026
An examination of common water-savings opportunities and the critical role of pumping systems in facility water use will be provided, along with an introduction to the water reduction assessment. Â
Week 6 – Virtual Water Treasure Hunt; Jul 21, 2026
An instruction on how to conduct a successful water assessment will be offered, followed by participants performing a facility-level water assessment themselves with support from on-site and virtual experts. Â
Week 7 – Estimating Water Savings Opportunities; Jul 28, 2026
An evaluation of the water-savings opportunities identified during the assessment will be discussed, and participants will be taught how to quantify the savings results using MEASUR. Â
Week 8 – Industrial Water System VINPLT Wrap-up Presentations; Aug 4, 2026
A review of the content centered on quantifying water-reduction opportunities, during which attendees will discuss their virtual assessment results with optional participation from upper-management.Â
  Kiran Thirumaran
Kiran Thirumaran is a research staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with a focus on industrial energy and water efficiency. Kiran holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University (NCSU) and has more than 8 years of professional experience. He has led the development of numerous tools and resources used by DOE’s Better Buildings/Better Plants program and has held several local and international training workshops on energy and water efficiency.