2021 was another challenging year for the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) and our partners as drought – both prolonged and seasonal - continued across much of North America, with the prospect of increasing water supply instability because of climate change. At the same time, political divisions strained the ties that bind our nation together and threatened to prevent action on a host of pressing challenges, including the growing water crisis.

Learn more about AWE's eventful 2021 in the full report.

Despite the challenging circumstances of 2020, the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) persevered to provide research, member support, and policy advocacy that advanced sustainable water use across North America. As the world abruptly shifted to remote working, we collaborated with our partners to exchange ideas and strategies for navigating the new reality.

Learn more about AWE's eventful 2020 in the full report.

2019 was a year of production. AWE released studies, reports, manuals, handbooks, user guides, and webinars.

We successfully mobilized our community to help ensure a place for EPA’s WaterSense program in the FY2020 national budget.

We collaborated with Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI) to establish strict guidelines for installing multiple showerheads in a single stall, thus closing a significant loophole in codes and ensuring effective water efficiency standards.

We gave our primary website, AllianceforWaterEfficiency.org, a major facelift and started work on updating our Home-Water-Works.org household water use resource and calculator.

The California Water Efficiency Partnership (CalWEP), a Chapter of the Alliance for Water Efficiency, hired its first Executive Director team. Congratulations to co-Executive Directors Sarah Foley and Tia Lebherz. It has been a joy watching CalWEP come into its own, and we are extremely proud to continue to support our first fully autonomous chapter.

Learn more about AWE's eventful 2019 in the full report.

The California Water Efficiency Partnership and the Alliance for Water Efficiency have updated and redesigned the national edition of the Practical Plumbing Handbook, an excellent resource on how to repair and perform preventative maintenance on the fixtures in your home. The Handbook is a member-only benefit and is available only in hardcopy form for consumer distribution.

We are now accepting orders for copies, which are $5.00 per unit. Check out this flyer for a peek at sample pages of the handbook. Click here to email us if you would like to see a sample copy or to place a bulk order of copies.

2018 has been a fabulous year for us at the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE). Our years of hard work are bearing fruit in building partnerships and highlighting our ongoing efforts to provide cutting-edge research and technical assistance. Our members tell us that we are making a difference...Making a difference is why we exist. It is gratifying to see our efforts working in so many geographies and with so many partners.

2017 was a landmark year for us at AWE. We completed a year-long process of negotiating, creating legal frameworks, and strategic planning to lay the groundwork for the California Water Efficiency Partnership to become the Alliance for Water Efficiency’s first-ever state chapter. There is great synergy in the work of both organizations, and we will be stronger by having an explicit and cooperative platform for working together. Throughout the process, we stayed mindful of the strength of partnerships in an effort to create a model that we hope will be replicated many times in the near future as our team works to support regional efforts, and as water-aware regions work to support our work across North America...

If you read the economic projections from the Dallas Fed or the Annual Economic Outlook from Texas A&M, the focus will be on the energy sector rebound from low oil prices, and manufacturing jobs, and housing starts. But water is behind all of those jobs — whether for oil exploration and production, steam electric generation or cooling for manufacturing, or the growing appetite for water in new homes and neighborhoods. And how much water Texas has — and will continue to have — shapes our economic growth.

This report, however, is not about the importance of maintaining Texas’ water for Texas’ businesses. It is about the very real business of maintaining Texas’ water.

Texas investments in water efficiency — whether on old, water-wasting toilets, landscape irrigation, commercial kitchens, industrial process, or reducing water losses — create jobs for Texans. As this report shows, every dollar invested by the state on water efficiency yields $1.30 to state output and $0.80 to gross state product, a solid return. A $2 billion investment in water efficiency would not only provide $2.6 billion in state output and $1.6 billion in gross state product, it would also create thousands of jobs. These positions are utility staff, builders, plumbers, irrigation contractors, retailers, and many others.

This report demonstrates that significant investment in water efficiency is a sound, “no regret” strategy for the State of Texas. The lessons learned in the most recent drought — which cost Texas billions of dollars in economic losses and damages — all show that helping the public to use water more efficiently can yield greater reserves of water, help us manage another drought more effectively, and sustain economic growth for years to come. All while lowering the cost of water services and providing real jobs to real Texans.

Water-efficient toilets could potentially save up to 170 billion potable gallons of water per year across five states facing water scarcity, according to new research released today by the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) and Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI).

The “Saturation Study of Non-Efficient Water Closets in Key States” focused on Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia and Texas – all five states have either experienced or are on the verge of experiencing significant shortages. The savings projected by the study (170 billion gallons of potable water yearly or 465 million gallons saved per day) could be achieved if non-efficient toilets in residential properties are replaced with water-efficient ones. This five-state savings can be extrapolated to an estimate of up to 360 billion potable gallons of water per year saved nationally.

This research produces important direction for water managers nationwide, as 40 out of 50 states anticipate water shortages in the coming years, according to a Government Accountability Office survey of state water managers published in 2013, with most of these states already experiencing periodic shortages. The five states researched represent 28% of the national population and 47% of all housing units in 2015, so the report examines a large part of the residential water consumption in the United States. Toilet flushing is the largest single indoor use of water, representing 24% of total use in single-family homes. Replacing non-efficient toilets with efficient ones is an important strategy to stretch available water supplies.

The AWE/PMI study demonstrates that current plumbing technology can make a tremendous water-saving impact, especially if toilet replacement programs can be accelerated. At the current 4% annual toilet replacement rate, the potential savings illustrated in this study will not occur for another 15 to 30 years unless replacement programs are accelerated.

On Indoor Plumbing Water Efficiency

This paper advocates for the incorporation of higher minimum performance and efficiency requirements for indoor plumbing into legislative, regulatory, and codes and standards initiatives.

AWE's consumer website Home Water Works, features an advanced household water calculator. This stunning website was created to give consumers the best and most relevant information about conserving water at home, and offers water saving tips and information about every major water-using fixture and appliance found in homes today.

As noted, central feature of the Home Water Works is the Water Use Calculator – a powerful and accurate tool for estimating where water is used in your home. Answer a few simple questions and the water calculator quickly estimates how much water is used for toilets, showers, clothes washers, faucets, dishwashers, and even leaks. The Water Use Calculator tells you where and how to increase water efficiency in your home by identifying the end uses where water can be saved and the end uses where a high level of efficiency has already been achieved.

The Home Water Works website provides the most current information about residential water use and efficiency for the entire house. From fixing a leaking toilet to improving the quality of the soil in the yard, Home Water Works provides essential and up-to-date information on how to make your home as water efficient as possible.

The Home Water Works website was developed by the Alliance for Water Efficiency and was made possible in part by a grant from The Home Depot Foundation. The Water Use Calculator was originally created by The Field Museum and was modified for the Home Water Works website with their permission.

Member-Only Benefit

As a special offer to our organizational members, we are making available customized logos for the Home Water Works website with the AWE member's name, so that a link can be created directly from the member's website. All that is required is that you accept a brief Terms of Use. Click here to access the Terms of Use.

ALSO, the Water Usage Calculator can be adapted and customized and installed by water utilities wishing to offer this powerful tool to their own customers. The customized calculator is hosted and maintained by AWE and its contractor Radian Technical Marketing making it quick and easy to implement anywhere on a water utility website. See examples #1-EBMUD, and #2-AWC. Interested? Email us.