The Current: Summer 2023
Summer 2023 - Issue LVI
The WaterSense Current is a quarterly update dedicated to news and events related to WaterSense. Sign up to receive The WaterSense Current and get WaterSense news delivered right to your Inbox.
In This Issue:
- Consumers and Businesses Look to WaterSense for Savings
- Beat the Heat With Water-Saving Events
- Spray Sprinkler Nozzles Are Not to Be Mist
- Celebrating Smart Irrigation Month Is a No-Brainer
- The City of Durham Strikes Again With Savings
- The City of Fort Worth Makes Plumbing Repair Accessible
- Fulton Homes Constructs to Conserve
Consumers and Businesses Look to WaterSense for Savings
Since the WaterSense program was launched in 2006, consumers and businesses have saved a total of more than 7.5 trillion gallons of water by purchasing water-saving plumbing fixtures and irrigation products—with 1.1 trillion gallons saved in 2022 alone. That’s the water used in 9½ months by all U.S. households!
WaterSense partners with more than 2,100 utilities, communities, manufacturers, home builders, retailers, and other organizations to produce and promote toilets, faucets, showerheads, spray sprinkler bodies, irrigation controllers and homes that are independently certified to use less water and perform well. Americans can look to the WaterSense label to save water, energy, and money.
Since 2006, WaterSense labeled faucets, faucet accessories, and showerheads have helped American homes save 880 billion kilowatt hours of electricity—enough energy to supply a year’s worth of power to nearly 83 million homes—and eliminated 337 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is the equivalent of planting 5.6 billion trees. The energy and water savings associated with WaterSense labeled products has also saved consumers $171 billion in water and energy bills over the past 16 years.
Learn more about WaterSense labeled products and program accomplishments by reading the 2022 Accomplishments Report.
Beat the Heat With Water-Saving Events
School may be out, but there are still plenty of opportunities to have fun and learn this summer. If you’re looking for something fun for you and your family to do while learning ways to save water, check your local water utility or water district's website to see what they have planned. Many utilities participate in water festivals, have tables at county fairs, and conduct workshops to show you how to save water during times of drought or summer’s heat.
WaterSense partners have a variety of events where they show consumers how and why to save water. Athens-Clarke County (Georgia) Public Utilities Department cohosts monthly gardening programs called Green Thumb Lectures to discuss a variety of topics on the importance of water conservation and efficiency. The City of Plano (Texas), holds an annual WaterWise Landscape Tour where residents can visit a selection of beautiful, sustainable landscapes in Plano showcasing plants and practices great for garden enthusiasts in North Texas. Also in Texas, the San Antonio Water System’s Garden Style San Antonio program has a range of events to help residents learn how to have beautiful and water-smart gardens.
In California, the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership has organized “Drought Drop-By” events in the past to distribute free water-saving kits. The Partnership also participates in its local WaterSmart Expo, holds Saving Water Summer Pop-Ups, and is hosting a rainwater harvesting tour. At all events, they raise awareness about drought and discuss ways to save water at home—and give away water-saving tools.
Look out for what is happening in your area and start saving water this summer.
Spray Sprinkler Nozzles Are Not to Be Mist
WaterSense already has a suite of labeled products to help you water your landscape efficiently, including two types of controllers and sprinkler bodies. Coming soon to round out this list are spray sprinkler nozzles. A spray nozzle is a component of a sprinkler system that combines with a sprinkler body to distribute water on a landscape. Some types of nozzles can reduce the amount of water used for irrigation by distributing water more slowly, evenly, and with larger droplets— reducing runoff and misting.
Some utilities offer incentives for purchasing spray sprinkler nozzles now, and in the future, they may direct homeowners to look for the WaterSense label to identify nozzles that use less water compared to standard models. Currently, irrigation products eligible for the WaterSense label include weather-based irrigation controllers, soil moisture-based irrigation controllers, and spray sprinkler bodies—all helping to make your irrigation system water efficiently.
Looking to upgrade your system? Use the WaterSense Product Search Tool to find just what you need to water smart all summer long. Don’t forget to use the Rebate Finder to see if your new products are eligible for any incentives in your area.
Celebrating Smart Irrigation Month Is a No-Brainer
July is Smart Irrigation Month and the perfect opportunity to make it rain with water savings. Start by taking some time to spruce up your sprinkler system. Walk through your landscape to inspect pipes and valves for leaks and look for missing or broken sprinkler heads. Double check that sprinkler parts are connected properly to avoid leaks—just one leak could waste up to 6,300 gallons of water. When running sprinkler systems, make sure sprinklers are directed just on the landscape and not driveways or sidewalks.
Finally, make sure your irrigation controller is programmed correctly—better yet, select a WaterSense labeled model to take the guess work out of watering. WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers can schedule watering based on local weather conditions or soil moisture levels, so find the type that works best for your landscape. Installing a WaterSense labeled irrigation controller can save up to 15,000 gallons of water annually! You can also install WaterSense labeled spray sprinkler bodies to help control water pressure and reduce wasted water.
Need some help getting started with your water-efficient landscape? Hire a landscape irrigation professional certified by a WaterSense labeled irrigation program to conduct a system audit, inspect your sprinkler system, suggest water efficiency improvements, and install WaterSense labeled products. Learn more ways to celebrate Smart Irrigation Month and water smarter all year long on the WaterSense website: https://www.epa.gov/watersense/watering-tips.
The City of Durham Strikes Again With Savings
Capturing its second WaterSense Partner of the Year Award, the City of Durham (North Carolina) Department of Water Management kept up a steady pace of water savings with its creative outreach efforts in 2021. To celebrate Fix a Leak Week, the City created an online virtual scavenger hunt with the theme, “Leaks can run, but they can’t hide.” Participants navigated through pages of its website to track down clues and solve 10 different riddles as they learned about the Department of Water Management and WaterSense labeled products for the chance to win WaterSense labeled products and other water conservation prizes.
The City also offered various outreach events throughout the year to educate residents and businesses about water conservation and how to save with WaterSense. To make the most of its outreach during the pandemic, the City offered a mix of virtual and in-person outdoor events, including online sessions with students, virtual tours, environmental field days, and appearances at several community vaccination events, where they provided information on WaterSense and water efficiency. The City was able to reach over 400 individuals through these various events!
To help residents save water and money, the City rebated over 550 water-efficient toilets in 2021. They also conducted nearly 100 residential water use assessments, providing visual inspections of all water-using fixtures and appliances in and around local homes. During these assessments, they gave away nearly 100 WaterSense labeled showerheads and aerators to residents. To learn more about the City of Durham Water Management’s award-winning water-saving activities in 2021, visit the WaterSense website: https://www.epa.gov/watersense/watersense-awards#Durham22.
The City of Fort Worth Makes Plumbing Repair Accessible
The City of Fort Worth (Texas) earned its second WaterSense Partner of the Year Award by helping its community save water. To make water efficiency more accessible, Fort Worth Water launched a plumbing repair program to fix minor leaks in 2021 called SmartRepair. Qualifying low-income homeowners could participate in the program, which repairs or replaces toilets and fixtures. Fort Worth Water directed city-contracted plumbers to use WaterSense labeled fixtures whenever possible. Repairs for nearly 50 homes in 2021 resulted in an estimated yearly savings of 821,200 gallons of water!
To reduce water waste even further, Fort Worth Water implemented an Advanced Metering Infrastructure system that allows the City to monitor customers’ water usage and detect leaks. Using this system, the City of Fort Worth notified over 68,000 customers of high water use with a link to their web page about checking for leaks. An analysis of the mailings showed 65 percent of customers no longer showed continuous usage 30 to 60 days after receiving the letter.
Fort Worth also collaborated with several other partners to promote WaterSense as part of its educational offers through a combination of live and virtual classes focused on water conservation. The City partnered with Tarrant Regional Water District in Texas to host four irrigation classes and two YardSmart conferences and worked with the cities of Dallas and Houston to host a two-part Fix a Leak Week workshop.
Fulton Homes Constructs to Conserve
Fulton Homes built up its efforts in 2021 to bring WaterSense labeled homes to the market, earning it its third Partner of the Year Award. In 2021, Fulton closed on 609 WaterSense labeled homes, nearly double the number it built in 2020! This represented nearly 80 percent of the total new houses that Fulton Homes closed on in 2021. What’s more, all of the homes built by Fulton in 2021 included WaterSense labeled plumbing products.
Fulton Homes expanded its customer service team and trained them on WaterSense labeled products to further amplify the value of saving water with WaterSense labeled products to their customers. Fulton also trains their project managers and assistants in all areas of WaterSense and sustainable building practices and works closely with plumbing contractors so that they understand the importance of installing WaterSense labeled products.
To ensure its homes were able to meet version 2.0 of the WaterSense homes program, Fulton management met quarterly with their third-party inspectors to review the updated specification, discussed methods to meet the new requirements, and conducted community outreach.
