Water Efficiency Watch - November 2021

Submitted on November 17, 2021

In this issue of Water Efficiency Watch... 

  • WaterSmart Innovations Recap
  • AWE Direct Distribution Programs with Flume and Rachio
  • AWE Comment Letter in favor of WaterSense Funding
  • NAWL 2021
  • Abstracts for EWTS
  • Learning Landscapes Grant Awardees
  • Member Spotlight
  • World Toilet Day
  • News Briefs

WaterSmart Innovations

The Alliance for Water Efficiency was proud to be a part of the incredibly successful WaterSmart Innovations Conference last month! Thank you to everyone who made it such an educational, productive and fun experience.

AWE's Annual Member Meeting

It was great to see so many friends and partners at AWE's Annual Member Meeting. Attendees heard a terrific presentation from Andy Belanger, Director of Public Services for the Las Vegas Valley Water District and Southern Nevada Water Authority, and enjoyed food and cocktails while being entertained by the 7th Annual Groundhog Days music night. Thanks again to our sponsors for making this possible:

Presenting Sponsor - Flume, Inc.

Gold Sponsors - Rachio | Southern Nevada Water Authority | WaterView (Eagle Aerial Solutions) | Whirlpool

Silver Sponsors - Aiqueous | Water Efficient Gardens

Bronze Sponsors – A&N Technical Services, Inc. | Cavanaugh | Dickinson Associates | Green Media Creations | Jacobs | LIXIL | Maddaus Water Management | Purlin | Radian Developers | Water Demand Management | Water Systems Optimization

AWE Member of the Year Award

This year, AWE presented its inaugural Member of the Year award to the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). The Award recognizes an AWE member organization serving as a leader in the water efficiency and conservation community.  SNWA has managed the Water Smart Innovations Conference since 2008 and is a long-standing AWE member and representative on the Board of Directors while also being a national water efficiency leader. Click here to learn more about why SNWA was chosen.

AWE Water Star Award

AWE's Water Star Award celebrates "unsung heroes" in water conservation, the quiet water conservation practitioner working in the trenches who makes a huge difference by their dedication, passion, and progressive approaches.

This year, AWE presented the award to Denise Schmidt of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. Denise has made extraordinary contributions to regulated water conservation and efficiency policy in the state of Wisconsin and beyond, and assisted water utilities with reducing their water losses and financial pressures. Click here to learn more about the WaterStar Award and Denise's impressive career.

WaterSense Excellence Award

AWE was honored to be presented with an EPA WaterSense Excellence Award for Strategic Collaboration. The Alliance was recognized for our WaterSense and Water Efficient Products Committee, partner webinar series, innovative research projects, and more. This is the fifth Excellence Award AWE has received.

Congratulations to all of our members and partners who received an EPA WaterSense award. Click here  to learn more.

AWE Direct Distribution Programs with Flume and Rachio 

Rachio Smart Irrigation Controllers and Flume Smart Home Water Monitors are available at significant discounts for AWE water utility members, with the option to increase the discount in your service area with conservation funds. The sale and delivery of these devices are handled entirely by Rachio and Flume.

Flume

Working with existing metering infrastructure—from manually read meters to AMI—Flume measures water use every 5 seconds and provides real-time water use information. AWE water agency members can offer Flume monitoring devices to their customers at discounted prices, with purchases made on a website created by Flume that is unique to the agency’s service area. Click here to learn more.

Rachio

AWE members across the country can now enjoy discounted prices on Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controllers. Rachio controllers are certified by EPA WaterSense and SWAT tested. These cutting-edge devices allow users to check on and run their sprinklers from anywhere in the world on a smartphone (or with the Rachio web app). Sign up for Phase 1 participation by the end of the year and the Rachio administration fee will be waived! Click here to learn more.

AWE Submits Comments on prioritizing WaterSense in EPA’s Strategic Plan 

AWE filed a comment letter signed by 40 organizations encouraging USEPA to prioritize water efficiency and the WaterSense program in its proposed Strategic Plan, including a goal to increase the WaterSense budget to at least $10 million annually. With drought and water scarcity becoming increasingly common across the nation, and the problem expected to worsen because of climate change, the WaterSense program is more important than ever. Click here to learn more and to view the text of the letter.  

Register for North American Water Loss 2021: December 7-9

Registration is open for the 2021 North American Water Loss (NAWL) Conference, to be held in Austin, TX, December 7-9. NAWL is a platform to learn about processes, methods, techniques, and regulatory developments related to strategies for reducing non-revenue water loss. The conference will also feature an Exhibit Hall with leading technology and companies providing solutions. Click here  to learn more.

Submit Abstracts for the Emerging Water Technology Symposium: December 3 Deadline

The co-conveners of the Emerging Water Technology Symposium (EWTS) are looking forward to welcoming everyone in person May 10-11, 2022 in San Antonio. The conference is seeking abstracts on a variety of topics, including Water-Energy Nexus, Water Efficiency in Buildings, Water Quality Issues, Alternate Water Sources, and more. The abstracts deadline is December 3, 2021. Click here  to learn more.

Learning Landscapes Grant Awardees

The Alliance for Water Efficiency awarded its second round of grants to five organizations for the construction or improvement of educational gardens to be used to teach about outdoor water use efficiency. The grantees will utilize the AWE Learning Landscapes Lessons that focus on outdoor water use efficiency for students grades 3 - 8 and align with Next Generation Science Standards. The grant awardees are:

  • Eugene Field Elementary School, Chicago, Illinois
  • Frontier Project Foundation, Rancho Cucamonga, California
  • I Will Mentorship Foundation, Fort Meyers, Florida
  • Menchaca ISD, Austin School District, Manchaca, Texas
  • Town of Garner, Garner, North Carolina

Congratulations to all the grant recipients!

AWE Learning Landscapes Grants and Lessons were made possible by generous funding provided by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation.

Member Spotlight

AWE Partner Southwest Florida Water Management District has awarded $104,941.81 in Splash! grants to 48 educators. The program provides up to $3,000 per school to enhance knowledge of freshwater resources with hands-on learning among kindergarten through 12th-graders. Grant recipients will take field trips to facilities that offer hands-on environmental education for freshwater or estuarine studies. Funds will also go toward purchasing water quality equipment allowing students to conduct experiments in the classroom. Click here  to learn more.

World Toilet Day Nov. 19

World Toilet Day, a United Nations initiative to tackle the global sanitation crisis, is November 19. Today, nearly half the world’s population lives without a 'safely managed sanitation service': a toilet, not shared with other households, that either treats or disposes of human waste on site, stores it safely to be emptied and treated off-site, or connects to a functioning sewer. AWE knows that effective sanitation systems are crucial to a sustainable water future, and has been a continued advocate for investments in plumbing infrastructure. Click here  to learn more about World Toilet Day and what is being done to improve sanitation around the world.

News Briefs

Colorado's Dolores River should be raging through canyons — instead, it's nearly dry. Learn more here. 

Barley, California's drought-resistant crop, having trouble growing. Learn more here. 

$100M plan in the works to leave more water in Lake Mead. Learn more here. 

Why water is the next net-zero environmental target. Learn more here. 

SoCal’s largest water district declares regional drought emergency; here’s what’s expected from L.A. residents. Learn more here. 

Topics: 
Alternate Water Sources, Commercial, Industrial, Institutional, Communication and Education, Drought, Fixtures, Appliances, and Equipment, Green Building, Landscape, Irrigation, and Outdoor Water Use, Metering and Submetering, Residential (Including Multi-family), Utility Water Loss Control, Water and Energy, Water and Land Use Planning, Water Conservation Programs, Planning, & Evaluation, Water Rates, Water Resources,