AWE Water Conservation Tracking Tool

Need help in planning your water conservation programs? The Alliance for Water Efficiency now has a solution for you. First released in 2009 after a successful beta testing period with a number of water utilities, the Tracking Tool is now in Version 3.0 and has nearly 400 users.  The Tool -- complete with a detailed User Guide -- is available free of charge to all AWE members in good standing.  

What the Tracking Tool Is

The Tracking Tool is an Excel-based model that can evaluate the water savings, costs, and benefits of conservation programs for a specific water utility, using either English or Metric units. Using information entered into the Tracking Tool from the utility’s system, it provides a standardized methodology for water savings and benefit-cost accounting, and includes a library of pre-defined conservation activities from which users can build conservation programs.

Water utility managers can use the Tracking Tool in a variety of ways to aid their water resource planning and operations:   

• Develop long-range conservation plans. Construct conservation portfolios containing up to 50 separate conservation program activities.  
• Quickly compare alternative conservation measures in terms of their water savings potential, impact on system costs, and potential benefits to utility customers.    
• Track the implementation, water savings, costs, and benefits of actual conservation activities over time.  
• Evaluate a utility’s changing revenue requirement with conservation.  
• Estimate the reduction in GHG emissions resulting from plumbing/energy codes and conservation program activity.  

The Tracking Tool counts the savings achieved from national fixture and appliance standards. Due to differing standards among states, users can select from five options depending on their location: California, Colorado, Georgia, Texas, and all other states.  

How the Alliance Will Help

The Alliance will provide a detailed User Guide with the Tool, as well as one (1) hour of free technical assistance to any member using the Tool.  Please let us know about your experiences with the Tool! We would like to feature successful examples of the Tool in use on our web site, so please let us know how it has worked for you. 

How to Get the Tracking Tool

The Tool is available free of charge to AWE members, but it is subject to your agreement to the Water Conservation Tracking Tool Terms of Use. Current members click here to read and accept the Terms of Use and to obtain a copy of the Tool from the AWE staff.   

Not yet a member? Become a member today.

Tracking Tool Resources

List of User Data Inputs for Version 3.0 

Differences between Version 2.0 and Version 3.0 of the Tracking Tool 

Conservation Measures Included in the AWE Water Conservation Tracking Tool Library  

Average Baths and Half Baths Per Dwelling Unit - Supplemental Data Table (included with Version 3.0)

 Funded in Part by a Grant from The Home Depot Foundation