Reduce dipper-well water use by choosing an accepted utensil rinsing and between-use storage method, not by leaving used scoops in stagnant water. Maricopa County adopts the FDA 2017 Food Code, which allows specific storage arrangements. Confirm the method, required cleaning and any equipment change with the County before changing flow.
What does the County's adopted food code allow?
A running dipper well can use water throughout service. Change the approved utensil-handling method before changing a setup that depends on that flow.
Maricopa County's Environmental Health Code adopts the FDA 2017 Food Code, effective October 6, 2021, without automatically adopting later editions or amendments. Its Regulatory Authority is the County Environmental Services Department.
Section 3-304.12 covers utensils stored between uses. For moist food such as ice cream, one allowed method is running water with enough velocity to flush particles to the drain. A basin holding used scoops in stagnant water does not satisfy that running-water method.
The section also lists other arrangements, with conditions. These include storage in food with handles above the food and container, specified clean work surfaces with required cleaning and sanitizing, and heated-water storage. The clean, protected-location provision for certain utensils applies to food that does not need time/temperature control for safety; do not apply it indiscriminately to every ice-cream operation.
Have the County confirm which method fits the actual food, utensils and service process. A different equipment name does not make the operating conditions disappear.
Is rinsing the same as between-use storage?
No. EPA's February 2025 dipper-well guidance distinguishes continuous wells, intermittent devices, heated wells and self-closing rinse faucets. A metering faucet can rinse a utensil but does not provide a storage reservoir.
Before ordering, describe what happens after each serving: where the scoop goes, whether it remains there, how food residue is removed and when it is washed and sanitized. That description helps determine whether the proposed device actually supports the accepted method.
Keep its documentation with the equipment specification sheets. A generic water-saving device should not silently replace an approved utensil-storage arrangement.
What does heated-water storage require?
FDA 2017 section 3-304.12(F) allows a container of water maintained at least 135°F, with cleaning under section 4-602.11(D)(7). That referenced provision requires the utensils and container to be cleaned at least every 24 hours or often enough to prevent soil-residue accumulation.
This is a specific between-use storage option. It is not the hand-sink temperature or proof that rinsing at 135°F sanitizes a utensil. The commercial kitchen temperature guide explains those separate functions.
EPA also warns that heated wells requiring manual water replacement may not remove food particles or allergens as effectively as other arrangements. Follow the accepted handling, cleaning and equipment instructions; temperature alone does not settle that question.
Where can water use be reduced?
EPA recommends stopping flow when the well is not in use and cleaning it before restarting. Coordinate that with the actual storage method: leaving used utensils in a stopped running-water well is not the same as taking the well out of use.
If flow remains necessary during service, it must still flush the required particles. Do not import a voluntary efficiency target as a universal County flow limit. Measure the existing flow and time in use, then compare an accepted replacement or operating change using the shop's own records.
A replacement also needs the right indirect-waste arrangement and supply protection. The County requires review before work affected by a material change to approved plans. Use the restaurant plan-review checklist and substitution process to coordinate that change before installation.