The WaterSense Current: Spring 2024

Spring 2024 - Issue LIX

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:

• Fighting Water Waste During Fix a Leak Week
• Give Your Yard a Water-Saving Makeover This Earth Day
• WaterSense Labeled Homes Communities Do More Than Just Save Water
• Rancho California Water Makes a Splash With Water-Saving Outreach
• Valley Water Peaks With First Partner of the Year Award

Fighting Water Waste During Fix a Leak Week

The average household's leaks can account for nearly 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year! WaterSense partners in your community were hard at work stopping leaks in their tracks in March. From workshops focused on water-efficient practices to road races and scavenger hunts, partners helped consumers and businesses hunt down and fix leaks during this year’s Fix a Leak Week, March 18 through 24.

Throughout Fix a Leak Week, utilities and communities encouraged customers to check for leaks around their homes. Some residents took the 10-Minute WaterSense Challenge, which includes a checklist for finding and fixing common household leaks. To encourage people to test their toilets for leaks, many partners gave away free toilet dye tablets. When the tablet is placed in the tank of a toilet, residents wait 10 minutes to see if dye appears in the toilet bowl, which indicates a leak. These sneaky toilet leaks are often caused by old, worn-out toilet flappers that can be easily replaced in just a few steps. Watch this “bath hack” video that demonstrates how to replace flappers and check out the other bath hacks for fixing leaky showerheads and replacing faucet aerators.

Some WaterSense partners visited schools in their communities to teach the next generation why stopping leaks is so important. In Georgia, the Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities Department visited third grade classrooms to create Fix a Leak Week-themed postcards to mail to customers. In North Carolina, Durham Water Management tested residents’ water conservation knowledge during a water-saving trivia night. And in California, Irvine Ranch Water District held a free workshop for customers to learn how to find and fix indoor and outdoor leaks.

Looking for water-saving events near you? Be sure to check out the WaterSense Facebook event map to see what is happening in your community.

Give Your Yard a Water-Saving Makeover This Earth Day

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than in your better yard? Up to half of the water we use outdoors could be wasted due to evaporation, wind, and runoff from overwatering, so incorporating water-efficient features into your landscape is important no matter what type of yard you have. Whether you want something more low-maintenance or prefer a more luxurious landscape, there are plant choices, irrigation technologies, and watering practices to fit every lifestyle. You can even add WaterSense labeled products that can help you achieve a yard that is both beautiful and efficient.

For those who take pride in making their yard look good year-round but also want to save water, choose native plant varieties and plant them in hydrozones based on watering needs. Native plants require little supplemental watering aside from normal rainfall while still looking lush, and using hydrozones ensures plants aren’t over- or under-watered. And if you need help designing and maintaining the watering system for your perfect landscape, find an irrigation professional certified by a WaterSense labeled program who can help transform your yard into a water-efficient oasis.

Looking for a more low-maintenance yard with little time for upkeep? Install WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers that can schedule watering based on local weather conditions or soil moisture levels. WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers take the guesswork out of when and how much to water, leaving more time for your other priorities! But even if you choose a hands-off irrigation scheduling approach, don’t forget to conduct a sprinkler spruce-up each spring to ensure irrigation systems are working properly. By taking a few minutes to inspect your system, you can find any issues early on and prepare your system to operate efficiently all summer long.

Whatever your lifestyle, use this Earth Day to plan for a better yard and help save this precious resource. Visit the WaterSense website to find more water-efficient landscaping ideas and learn more about water-saving technologies: https://www.epa.gov/watersense/outdoors.

WaterSense Labeled Homes Communities Do More Than Just Save Water

In communities across the country, transporting water to homes requires a substantial amount of energy. This means that for every drop of water that comes out of a home’s tap, energy was used to get it there. Within new residential developments, builders have an opportunity to construct homes that not only reduce the impact on regional water resources, but also minimize the energy use and carbon emissions associated with the water supplied to and used in those homes. WaterSense labeled homes provide a unique, whole-house approach to saving water.

WaterSense labeled homes are designed to use at least 30 percent less water than standard new home construction and must include WaterSense labeled toilets, showerheads, and bathroom faucets. Homes must also be leak-free upon completion and be certified by a Home Certification Organization with a method approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A labeled home could save the average family of four up to 50,000 gallons of water and $600 on utility bills annually!

As part of its commitment to energy and water efficiency, as well as climate resiliency, WaterSense builder partner KB Home launched two communities—Oak Shade and Durango—composed of more than 200 all-electric, solar-powered, WaterSense labeled homes in Menifee, California. The homes are designed to use 40 percent less energy and at least 30 percent less water than typical new construction. A case study published in February 2024 highlights the estimated 13.5 million gallons of water saved and 530,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy that will be saved per year in the communities. The communities will also help avoid nearly 331,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere per year.

Rancho California Water Makes a Splash With Water-Saving Outreach

Rancho California Water District earned its first Partner of the Year Award for its wide-ranging promotion of WaterSense and water conservation. Focusing on reducing outdoor water waste, Rancho Water encouraged residents to transform their landscapes and created a new website to highlight hundreds of climate-appropriate plant varieties. While using the site, residents can save their plant and design preferences and contact a local designer, contractor, or nursery listed on the site. Customers are also directed to the District’s rebates page to find eligible WaterSense labeled irrigation products that will help them reach their landscape’s full water-saving potential.

Rancho Water made switching to WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers easy for customers by providing free irrigation controllers at multiple events during the year. The District also collaborated with irrigation controller manufacturer Rachio and the California Water Efficiency Program (CalWEP) to offer discounted Rachio controllers for eligible customers—distributing over 200 devices!

To further promote WaterSense labeled products outside and inside the home, Rancho Water partnered with a local Lowe’s Home Improvement store to create WaterSense outreach videos. The videos highlight WaterSense labeled bathroom faucets, toilets, and showerheads, as well as WaterSense labeled products to incorporate in a water-efficient landscape. 

Valley Water Peaks With First Partner of the Year Award

Winning its first Partner of the Year Award, Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) in California found success in its water-saving giveaways and outreach efforts. Valley Water made WaterSense labeled products accessible to residents through several programs, including its Online Shopping Cart Program. The program offers free, high-efficiency devices to Santa Clara County properties and distributed over 9,000 WaterSense labeled showerheads in 2022.

Additionally, Valley Water’s Fixture Replacement Program removes inefficient fixtures at qualifying multifamily residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional properties at no cost. Through this program, Valley Water replaced over 2,800 toilets, 800 faucet aerators, and 1,300 showerheads with WaterSense labeled models in 2022 alone. To promote the program and connect with customers, Valley Water offered virtual weekly “Office Hours,” which reached over 600 residents during 2022. 

To help customers become more drought-aware, Valley Water conducted a multilingual water conservation campaign, “Is Your Yard Drought Ready? Our rebates can help make the change,” to promote rebates for water-saving fixtures. Valley Water also created animations displaying the WaterSense label on products such as smart irrigation controllers to encourage smart watering during warmer seasons. And their Speakers Bureau Program reached even more customers and provided drought information to community groups, service clubs, neighborhood associations, homeowners’ associations, libraries, senior centers, and city councils across Santa Clara County.