Seattle Public Utilities

You might wonder—how can our nation’s limited water supply meet the demands of population growth? WaterSense partner Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) demonstrates that it can be done. Through aggressive water conservation programs, SPU decreased water consumption in and around Seattle, Washington, by 24 percent since 1990, while in the same period the region’s population grew by 11 percent. The utility started with a conservation-oriented rate structure in 1989, and then implemented its first conservation program in the face of drought in 1992 (yes, in rainy Seattle!). These changes were followed by new state plumbing codes in 1993 that established water-efficiency standards.

In recent years, SPU and a consortium on 18 regional water utilities formed the Saving Water Partnership for which SPU administers the partnership’s 1% Water Conservation Program. The goal of this program is to keep the total water demand in 2010 at the same level as it was in 2000. Besides keeping up with demand and preserving natural resources, the conservation measures identified in the 1% Program cost less on a per unit basis than developing most traditional new sources of water supply, and thus, keeps customer rates lower than if a new supply source was added to the system to meet demand. In 2006, SPU’s efforts in this program helped the Seattle region achieve an annual average water savings of 0.93 million gallons per day (mgd).

To achieve these savings, the 1% Water Conservation Program targeted its efficiency measures on residential indoor fixtures, residential landscapes, commercial processes, and commercial landscapes. In particular, the program offered rebates or free toilets to upgrade older, inefficient toilets, as well as rebates for water-using appliances, urinals, pre-rinse spray heads, and other equipment. More recently, the region launched a pilot program for water-efficient showerheads. These incentives combined with non-incentive efforts—such as mass media messaging, direct mailings, new outreach materials, and Web sites—helped make the 1% Water Conservation Program a success.

SPU understands that water efficiency plays a key role in any strong municipal water conservation program, so joining WaterSense was an obvious choice. SPU Water Conservation Program Leader Al Dietemann explains, “WaterSense adds consistency with products, messaging, and marketing, and provides utilities with identical criteria to ensure a clear and concise message is conveyed to customers.” In fall 2007, SPU launched a campaign featuring a TV ad encouraging consumers to purchase WaterSense labeled or FlushStar toilets. SPU also included an article in the utility’s newsletter that reaches up to 300,000 customers and shared point-of-purchase materials with retailers.

Looking beyond the 1% Water Conservation Program, the Saving Water Partnership has already selected a conservation goal for 2011–2030. To establish this goal, SPU relied on the 2006 Conservation Potential Assessment (CPA) (PDF) (318 pp, 9.54MB, About PDF) to analyze the most cost-effective conservation opportunities. The CPA was also used in creating a water supply planning model to identify the monetary and non-monetary costs of new water supply alternatives. After evaluating the results, the partnership selected a 15-mgd average annual water savings target for the 2011–2030 Regional Baseline Conservation Program.

For more information about the 1% Water Conservation Program and related efforts, please see the Saving Water Partnership 2006 Annual Report (PDF) (20 pp, 1.22MB, About PDF)
, go to Saving Water Partnership Web site , or contact Al Dietemann at (206) 684-5881.