Audit of Major Commercial & Irrigation Water Accounts

• Project Type: General OWC
• Applicant: Town of Castle Rock
• Project Name: Commercial & Irrigation Water Audit
• Title: Audit of Major Commerical and Irrigation Water Accounts
• Date: 6/29/2006
• County: Douglas
• Water Conservation - Doc Type: Final Report

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Audits of Major Commercial and Irrigation Water Accounts
Town of Castle Rock

Brookside Inn (account 11912)
Brookside Inn (see Attachment 3) presents a particular challenge to water managers since
this facility houses senior citizens in high-density living. Not only is this facility self-
contained - providing all laundry, bathing and food service needs for its 120 residents - it
does the same for its fulltime (24 hour/7 days a week) staff of approximately 180
employees.

The facility which is reasonably new (9 years old) is equipped with low-flow toilets and
low-flow and manually operated shut off shower heads. Given the nature of the facility,
which has 24 hour facility maintenance, there are mechanisms in place to identify and
repair leaks on a regular basis. It does utilize large washing machines, which are not
high-efficiency, and it does not recycle any kitchen water. It also has over an acre of
planted bluegrass which is used passively and actively by the facility residents and their
visitors. They do not have a precipitation sensor or ET controller on their irrigation
system, which consists of pop-up spray and rotors.

Water use at the facility (see Attachment 4) rose from 2004 to 2005, chiefly due to the
increase outdoor irrigation applied in the summer of 2005. Otherwise the facility
maintains a fairly steady water use. The cost of water for outdoor irrigation at Brookside
in 2004 and 2005 combined was roughly $7,000. Attachment 5 presents the outdoor
water use for Brookside Inn as compared to the target water use.

Based on the water budget evaluation, Brookside Inn would have had an increase in their
water bill in 2005 by about 20% due to excessive outdoor watering, which translates into
cost increase of about $3,000 over the last year.

Alternatives and Recommendations
Brookside Inn could reduce water use first by improving the outdoor landscaping. The
landscaping especially in the south side of the building could be replaced with a mixture
of hardscape and xeriscape plantings. If about one half of the bluegrass was replaced
(this target was used to account for those areas that are actively used by the facility
residents and their visitors) at a cost of about $20,000, the payback for the turf
replacement would occur in 4 to 8 years based on the mixture of hardscape and xeriscape
selected for implementation and the water budget pricing.

Brookside Inn could also install an ET Controller to serve 14 to 26 zones for about
$3,000. If this equipment is properly programmed and used, Brookside Inn could recover
the capital cost for the installation in about one year with the projected water savings
under water budget pricing.

DC Jail (account 12760)
Like Brookside Inn, the Douglas County Jail (see Attachment 3) houses a high density of
residents and 24 hour/7 day a week staff within a self-contained facility, providing
bathroom, laundry and food services to all within its walls. The sinks are all outfitted

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