Walk into any PT office and you’ll hear the unmistakable dim roar of a churning washing machine. PT clinics know that running the office washing machine all day long has got to use a ton of water. A simple look at the water bill each month confirms that, but how much water is being used exactly?

Luckily for you, the mathletes of EcoPro Products LLC have crunched the numbers and the answer may be shocking.

How Many Gallons Are Used Per Load

First off, let’s set the foundation. On average, a washing machine uses up to 40 gallons of water per load. Older models will use between 40 – 45 gallons, newer models will use less. But on average, we’re saying 40 gallons of water per load.

Average Number of Loads a Year

In a clinic with two full time physical therapists, you’ll have to do about a load per workday, which amounts to around 260 loads of laundry each year. If your PT’s are working over the weekend, you’re going to be using the washing machine even more, possibly in excess of 300 loads a year.

Most of the wash at a PT clinic is going to be linens. While there may be a variety of items being washed (towels, sheets, etc.), pillowcases tend to be what gets washed the most, since almost every session will use at least one pillow.

So How Many Gallons of Water Is That?

Carry the one, times the 7, divide by the root of pi and…

That’s right, an average PT office is looking at using around 10,400 gallons of water EVERY YEAR. And again, that’s if your office isn’t doing weekend work. Add weekends into the mix and that number could be in excess of 12,000 gallons of water a year!

And, if your clinic is large and has multiple washing machines, go ahead and times that 10k number by the number of machines you’re running. We’ll wait.

That Sounds Like a Lot

The short answer is, yes it is! But to better illustrate the point let’s break down what 10,400 gallons is equivalent to:

• Over 2,000, 5-gallon bottles of Diamond Spring Water (the average size of the water bottles used in most office water coolers)
• 39,368 one-liter water bottles of Aquafina. That’s almost 7 miles of plastic bottles!
• 166,400 8-oz cups of coffee
• 104 home car washes
• 2 eruptions of Old Faithful
• A residential swimming pool
• That’s right, an average PT clinic uses enough water every year to fill an 11’ x 25’ swimming pool.

Whoa, What Can I Do?

With over 10,400 gallons of water being used by each PT clinic, each year, we knew there had to be a solution to help curb this water waste. That’s why we developed our EcoPro Pillow Covers. Replacing just one of your cotton pillowcases with our made in the USA, PVC-free vinyl Pillow Covers can save 2,600 gallons of water per year. It’s the easiest way to reduce the financial and ecological impact of your PT clinic’s washing routine.

Ready to start saving money and the environment in one fell swoop? Reducing your water usage is easy to do with EcoPro Pillow Covers. Check out our full line of water-saving Pillow Covers today!