Audit of Major Commercial & Irrigation Water Accounts

Home Browse Search

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Audits of Major Commercial and Irrigation Water Accounts Town of Castle Rock series of outdoor malls bordered with irrigated landscape. Although the facility has more than one water tap to provide for the indoor and outdoor watering needs of the outlet mall, the "indoor use" tap (tap 24985) uses the most water estimated to be about 2 gallons per vehicle visit in the winter (see Table 6). The indoor water tap (24985) provides water for bathroom and drinking fountains, and the food court, which houses a dozen or so different fast food providers. This indoor tap also appears to provide some limited outdoor water use, most likely associated with irrigation of landscape between the buildings given the observed seasonal fluctuation of water use (see Attachment 4). Bathrooms and drinking fountains are strategically placed within the food court area, and at locations in each of the outdoor malls. Most of the shops also contain bathrooms for employee use. The bathrooms are all outfitted with low flow toilets but all the bathrooms except those in the food court area are manually operated. Those bathrooms located within the food court are outfitted with automated toilets, urinals and lavatories. Landscape between the buildings consists of Kentucky bluegrass, scrubs and a limited number of trees. It is estimated that approximately Y2 acre of irrigated acreage is serviced by tap 24985. Based on the summertime use of water associated solely with tap 24985, as illustrated in Attachment 5, the Outlets spent about $2,700 for outdoor irrigation during 2004 and 2005. If the irrigated area serviced by this tap is about Y2 acre, then under the water budget pricing, the additional cost of water for this same period would have been over $1,600 for a total of about $4,300 in two years. The majority of the outdoor water demand for landscape maintenance is met by the other taps that serve the facility. These taps were not identified as one of the largest water users in the Town since landscape in the islands and around the perimeter of the Outlet Mall are comprised of native grasses and trees. These areas are typically irrigated only once per week utilizing a mixture of pop-ups and subsurface irrigation. Alternatives and Recommendations Reduction of water use at the Outlets at Castle Rock, specifically for tap 24985, may be realized with only limited measures and programs. To begin with, a regular leak detection program integrated with the normal housekeeping efforts could be established to include regular inspection, reporting and maintenance of the numerous bathrooms and food court kitchens onsite, to ensure that leaks and malfunctioning fixtures are identified, and repaired or replaced in a timely manner. In addition, the mall could install automated shutoffs for the sinks, toilets and urinals at those bathrooms other than the food court; however the return on this investment based on current water pricing may be as much as 30 years or greater based on expected reduction in flow rates presented in the California Urban Water Conservation Council (2000). 3-10