Background
The warewashing (dishwashing) industry is multifaceted. It produces equipment for both the
food service industry and for medical and laboratory facilities. This report will focus only on
dishwashing equipment found in the food service industry. NSF International, a certifying body
that provides a directory of commercial dishwashers, currently lists approximately 900 individual
machine models in today’s marketplace. These machines are found in diverse settings ranging
from conventional restaurants to health care and other institutional food service facilities, as well
as to catering and similar food preparation operations. Equipment has been designed for
specific purposes such as general dish, pot and pan, and glass washing.
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to describe the place that warewashing has in the overall
restaurant and food service operation's water use profile and to describe how water efficiency
thresholds and technologies for this equipment are changing.
Topics
In order to fully describe water use characteristics of warewashing within the context of overall
food service operations, a number of topics are covered, including:
1. A brief overall of water use in scullery operations
2. The role of warewashing in these operations
3. Type and classification of warewashing equipment
4. Description of equipment operations
5. Trends in equipment water use
6. Dishwashing equipment size considerations
7. Dishwasher market dynamics
8. Regulations and incentives
9. Water use characteristics
10. Potential future water savings for California