Conserving water in our stores & communities.

Publix has saved millions of gallons of water a year through our water conservation efforts in our stores and manufacturing plants. We also proudly support efforts to protect, conserve, and restore water resources, such as the Florida Everglades.

Water stewardship in the Everglades.

Working to protect our water resources.

The Everglades is one of the world’s most unique natural resources, spanning two million acres across central and south Florida. It’s a habitat for numerous protected species and it plays a vital role in the lives of millions. The Everglades serves as a natural buffer to protect from hurricanes and is an important water source.

We are committed to helping protect, conserve, and restore this precious ecosystem as well as other major water resources in our footprint. Adding to our existing work with the Arbor Day Foundation in Florida, we’re now supporting the National Audubon Society in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in the western Everglades and the National Park Foundation to restore the saline glades in Everglades National Park.

Saving water through innovation.

Publix has been focused on water conservation within our own operations for many years. Since 2016, we’ve saved millions of gallons of water per year through innovative projects, improved cleaning techniques, and proactive leak detection. Our savings are expected to grow as we experiment with new ideas and projects.

Conserving every little drop, from our stores to our manufacturing plants.

Our distribution centers and manufacturing plants use water-cooled units for refrigeration with an external condenser that produces condensation. Facilities containing multiple water-cooled condensers use hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per week in order to operate the refrigeration. One of our Lakeland refrigerated warehouses has made modifications to collect rainwater and condensation runoff, which is stored in a 28,000-gallon water tank and then sourced to cool the condensers used for refrigeration.

In addition, our irrigation specifications at our company-controlled locations ensure that:

  • Reclaimed or well water is used whenever possible.
  • Rain and soil moisture sensors are installed with automatic control gauges to determine when landscaping needs water.
  • Irrigation systems are designed only after choosing plants and landscape design.
  • Irrigation sprinklers don’t overlap into single zones.
  • Drip irrigation and micro-sprinklers are used where appropriate.

Other water conservation efforts include installing low-flow faucets, toilets, and waterless urinals in our store bathrooms.