First Recycled Water Hockey Arena In U.S. Opens

Hockey players in California will soon be skating on recycled water in at least one arena.

Citizens Business Bank Arena in California has become the first hockey arena in the U.S. to use recycled water for its ice.

"Look at the ice on the floor of Citizens Business Bank Arena and you would see all the familiar landmarks. There are the red lines, blue lines, sponsor ads and the giant Reign logo at center ice. But one thing is different. The ice itself," the Daily Bulletin reported.

Hockey arenas, particularly those in warm climates, are not known as beacons of sustainability. They often guzzle up lots of water and energy.

Previously, "at least 72 times per year, [the arena used] thousands of gallons of water to create an ice surface for its ECHL (an equivalent league to Double-A in baseball) team the Ontario Reign. The eight-year-old rink [required] millions more gallons for air conditioning, an absolute must in a climate with average high temperatures in the 90s for at least three months out of the year," Venues Today reported.

Steve Eckerson, the arena's general manager, explained the decision to use recycled water.

“First of all, it means we’re doing the right thing,” he said, per the report. “We’ve found a way to make the planet better. Certainly in Southern California, all of California, anything we can do to save on water consumption — and this is a big thing. It’s a lot of water annually that goes into this process. And there’s selfish reasons, too, in that, it’s going to save us money. It’s a two-pronged approach to it. We’re very proud to be the first arena.”

Preparing the arena for this shift took some effort. Officials had to navigate a permitting process, and the arena's cooling towers were converted so they could run with recycled water.

"The move to use the reclaimed water saved 16,000 gallons of potable water to make the initial slab, and they estimate the savings in the 500,000- to 600,000-gallon range over the Reign season. Combined with the cooling tower project, the arena expects to save 5 million gallons over the course of a year," the Daily Bulletin reported.

Staff member Rich Vartigian said the availability of recycled water made the project feasible.

“Using this type of water — recycled, reclaimed water — is a great bonus that we had in this area,” he said, per the report. “Some other places don’t have it as readily available as we do. And it’s great that we’re able to take advantage of it.”

The arena is taking other measures to support sustainability, as well. "Some other changes include installing low-flow faucets and waterless urinals," the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported.