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A most efficient detective

From water leaks to meter troubles, Utility Savers spies ways to save money.

By PAUL SWIDER, Times Staff Writer
Published August 15, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Atoyia Deans | Times] Bill Davis, whose company Utility Savers specializes in utility cost analysis and water conservation, also sells low-flow fixtures.

Utility bills arrive in the mail and are paid without consideration that something could be amiss.

But larger companies' bills are often so large that it creates a business opportunity in looking for discrepancies.

"When you're dealing with the volumes we are, you're constantly looking for measures to improve efficiency," said Gregg Nicklaus, one of the owners of the Sirata Beach Resort.

For its efforts, Sirata saves money and is part of the state of Florida's Green Lodging program.

Some of that efficiency came with the help of Utility Savers, a one-man operation that sells low-flow water fixtures and offers forensic work to find utility waste and savings. Bill Davis has run the business for a dozen years, yet is still learning.

"That's the fun part for me, that I still see new things," said Davis, who works from a small office south of downtown. "I can't believe some of these things went unnoticed for so long."

Like the Sirata's neighbor, the TradeWinds, which had Davis out in 2000 to look at its utility operations. Davis found a gas line that was being metered twice, meaning the resort was paying twice for some of its natural gas.

Because he works on contingency, when he found the error and the hotel received a retroactive refund, Davis split the savings and pocketed $30,000.

"We've also had some refunds that came out to $30, too," he said.

A utility detective of sorts, Davis has stories about scores of businesses he's helped. He helped a bank cut its water use by discovering a leak it didn't know it had.

He found that another business was paying for use of a trash bin that was not on the property but was a legacy from an earlier billing change. And he found an auto dealer was paying for phone lines that didn't even run into the building.

"We had him audit all our utilities, and the savings came out pretty substantial," said Kim Montis, comptroller for Dayton Andrews Dodge on 34th Street, which had the phantom phone lines. "That was about nine years ago, and we're still saving about $2,000 a month."

Some of Davis' work involves knowing the rules.

He saved Montis money by spotting a miscalculation in the dealership's parking area that had them paying too much in stormwater fees. Others he teaches about rate packages and water meters.

Most businesses, when they want new water or electric service, call up and order it, Davis said, but they could be asking about rate plans that can save them money. Sometimes they qualify for packages the customer service people don't even know about, so Davis reads them back their own regulations.

He said he's also saved others money by understanding billing policies and their implications.

Water bills are a factor of a meter's size, but some of Davis' clients just use the meter that was there when they started their business, not knowing they could change it and lower their bills.

Lately, he's been doing a lot of work helping businesses lower water usage through efficient fixtures. He recently helped retrofit sinks and showers at the St. Petersburg YMCA that will help that organization save hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a year. The payback on their $2,600 investment is a matter of months, but the savings go on forever.

Davis did some water-conservation work for Sirata and TradeWinds, but he also works with hospitals and schools and other large institutions. He sells some cost-efficient fixtures to individuals, but most of his work comes from word-of-mouth referrals through area businesses. Businesses understand the benefit to the bottom line because they crunch the numbers, but the poor first generation of low-flow fixtures turned off much of the retail market.

"There's a lot of education needed, because some of those products were so lousy," he said of, for example, toilets that needed two flushes because their low flows couldn't otherwise take care of business. "But when it's all said and done, my clients are saving millions of gallons of water a year."

Davis is cautious to say the cities and utility companies are not trying to gouge their customers. He said they are run by humans who make mistakes, like misplacing a zero or a decimal point. Ferreting out these tiny details is what thrills the sleuth in him.

"Everything's a puzzle to me," he said. "In the end, the environment benefits, the business benefits, and I earn a little bit of profit."

Paul Swider can be reached at 892-2271 or pswider@sptimes.com or by participating in itsyourtimes.com.

Fast Facts:

Utility Savers

Contact Utility Savers at utilitysavers.com or 892-3334.

[Last modified August 14, 2007, 20:09:54]