By Haley Paul, Gilbert Water Conservation Specialist
During the month of September, with all those rains, you took notice! Our water production data indicates that Gilbert residents and businesses did an amazing job of responding to the rainfall by reducing outdoor water use.
It’s rare in the world of water conservation to see drastic decreases in water use in a short amount of time. We’ve seen a steady decrease in household water use over the years, with the implementation of new indoor technology such as water efficient toilets, showerheads, and clothes washers. However, to see real-time water conservation responses is a rare treat indeed.
After the September 7th and 8th flooding rain event, you responded by reducing your total water consumption by 20 million gallons… a day. You kept those controllers off too, and the savings persisted for about a week.
Then, with all the predictions that Hurricane Odile was going to drop another whopper on us, you anticipated the rain and proactively shut your controllers off. Production dropped from an average of 42 million gallons a day the few days preceding the storm, to an average of 37 million gallons a day—a savings of about 5 million gallons of water a day. Even though that storm didn’t deliver the anticipated rainfall, a lot of you figured you could keep those controllers off given the cloudiness and moisture that remained in your soil from the previous storm.
The final story in this water production data picture is that when it rained again on September 27th, you overwhelmingly responded. Water production dropped even lower, from an average of 43 million gallons a day preceding that rain event to an average of 35 million gallons per day. Another bulk water savings, this time of 8 million gallons of water a day.
In total, all that amounts to a cumulative water savings of 239,052,000 gallons for the month of September, or an 18 percent drop in water demand from last September.
This is a testament to your keen eye on conservation. You care. It matters. We can continue to improve on this trend by doing things such as adjusting our controllers monthly, checking for leaks inside and outside the home, and paying attention tohow much water we should be putting out on the landscape.
All of your individual actions add up to collective water savings.
The majority of water use is outdoors. That’s why we focus on it so much here in the monthly blogs. If you are bamboozled by your watering system, give us a call (480-503-6098) or email and we can set up a time to go through your system with you and offer you tips for savings.
If you ever want to see how much rain fell near your house, visit rainlog.org. If 0.5 or more inches of rain fell near you, that’s your cue to turn off the controller. When you can no longer easily stick a long screwdriver 8 inches into the soil, that’s when you will want to turn your controller back on.
Thanks for helping to do your part to save water here in Gilbert!

Cottonwood is the first city or town in the state of Arizona to sponsor, support and participate in a water conservation program for students in all grades of elementary and middle school.

Students will learn about various water conservation topics in their school through curriculum developed by the Verde Natural Resource Conservation District (VNRCD). The Cottonwood City Council approved the implementation of this program in July and is working closely with the VNRCD to implement the new program, which will begin in the fall.

Kindergarten through fourth grade students will learn the basics of water conservation in a program called “Cottonwood Kids Conserve,” which emphasizes the importance of conserving water, especially in Arizona. A total of 1650 students in these grades will go through the program.

Older students in fifth through eighth grade will learn about conservation through a variety of topics each year, including groundwater, invasive water species, healthy agriculture and the economic impacts of water conservation. The program includes field trips for certain grades to the Dead Horse Ranch State Park and the Montezuma Well. Kindergartners will also have the opportunity to spend several days at the Cottonwood water and reclamation plants and visit the Verde River.

“The Cottonwood City Council is pleased to collaborate with many partners who care about our children and the important topic of conservation,” said Mayor Diane Joens. “It will be a great model for other teachers and schools to use in the future.”

By Cathy Rymer, Chandler Water Conservation Coordinator

In 2012, 199 Chandler water audit participants saved over 10 million gallons of water after following advice from the city’s water conservation staff. That’s a lot of water and it also means hundreds of dollars saved by residents.

A water audit is simply a free on-site evaluation of water-using fixtures, hardware, equipment, landscaping, and management practices to determine the efficiency of your home’s water use. Once an audit is requested a Chandler Water Conservation Specialist will tour the property to show how you can locate leaks and learn practical ways to repair them.  You’ll even receive money-saving rebate and incentive information. Best of all, your appointment can be conveniently scheduled M-F between 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.

This citywide program is offered free-of-charge to Chandler water customers. A separate program for HOA’s and commercial properties also is available and includes preparation of a water budget to help determine landscape water efficiency. The results of eight water budgets tracked in 2012 resulted in estimated savings of 7,963,000 gallons.  Conservation programs such as water audits recently garnered Chandler recognition from NerdWallet, a consumer advocacy website out of San Francisco (http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2013/cities-with-innovative-green-initiatives).

Other water-saving programs include high water use notification post cards sent to residents who used more than twice as much water as the month before. This proactive approach helps catch leaks as soon as possible.  In 2012 more than 1.5 million gallons were saved due to this program.  The landscape conversion rebate program provided rebates for the removal of unused grass areas replaced with desert adapted plants.  Residents saw a 25 percent reduction in their landscape water use due to conversions in 2012 or a total of 1.3 million gallons. Non-residential conversions had an estimated savings of 472,700 gallons in 2012.

The use of smart irrigation controllers also produces significant water savings.  Besides receiving a rebate of up to $250, non-residential customers saved an average of 717,872 gallons per year. Residents also saw reductions in their water use with average annual savings of 31,681 gallons.