Hog producers searching for ways to reduce water consumption, greenhouse gases, and operating costs should look no further than a demonstration farm in southern Alberta. A recent study conducted on the farm involved the practical and economical replacement of standard water nipple drinkers with ball-bite nipple drinkers in a 3,000-head commercial grower barn operated by Dennis and Maggie McKerracher. Ball-bite nipple drinkers reduce water usage because the pig must have the whole valve in its mouth and then bite down to release water. In contrast, a pig can easily release water from a standard drinker by simply nudging the drinker, thereby wasting water and increasing manure volume. Over the course of the one-year trial, the ball-bite drinker sections of the barn used 35% less water than the standard drinker sections, as measured by the farm’s water monitoring system. Thus, it was evident that ball-bite drinkers saved water. The real question was how much money did they save? Research conducted by the George Morris Centre compared the demonstration farm’s net income with and without the installation of the technology. Financially, replacing standard drinkers with ball-bite drinkers proved to be an excellent return on investment. The initial cost for the purchase of ball-bite drinkers ($12.60 each) was higher than for standard drinkers ($6.90 each). However, the decline in water usage on the farm resulted in decreased manure volume (estimated to be 35% lower), decreased manure handling costs and reductions in electricity costs for pumping water, which more than offset the capital cost of the drinkers. The technology required no change in infrastructure or management techniques. Our research suggested that replacing the standard drinkers with ball-bite drinkers resulted in a payback period of approximately 3.5 months and an increase in annual net income of $1,584 on a $463 investment. The analysis was based on an operation with 500 pigs per cycle and one nipple drinker for every 15 pigs. In addition, there were significant non-financial benefits from the technology, such as reduced water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from fewer manure applications. There were also barn management benefits from knowledge of water consumption patterns, such as early disease and illness detection as well as identifying water leaks in the system. Overall, the strength of this technology lies in the fact that it is simple, environmentally friendly, and profitable.