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In addition, customer awareness of City rebate and technical assistance programs, <br />such as audits, is required for these types of measures and programs to develop <br />adequate reach into the City's customer base. <br />The City currently utilizes bill inserts, newsletters, advertisements, and various <br />customer training seminars to educate and engage its customers regarding water <br />conservation and water resources management. Each of these specific activities <br />will be evaluated during a public relations analysis which will be conducted over <br />the next two years. K-12 educational programs will also be evaluated during this <br />time period. <br />Incentives <br />Residential and Commercial Rebates -One of the best methods to create <br />measurable water conservation is to offer customer rebates f or indoor appliances. <br />Outdoor irrigation system rebates and sod replacement can also be effective in <br />saving water; however, outdoor irrigation effectiveness can be influenced by <br />variations in annual precipitation, existing irrigation system inefficiencies and <br />other circumstances beyond the control of the water provider. Nonetheless, <br />outdoor irrigation rebates can be of great benefit to the overall customer water use <br />efficiency, albeit somewhat difficult to measure when compared to indoor rebates. <br />The City currently has a rebate program that offsets the cost for residential <br />customers to purchase and install low-flow toilets and high-efficiency washing <br />machines. Analyses will be prepared to evaluate the efficacy of continuing these <br />programs and expanding the incentives to include commercial toilets and urinals, <br />commercial pre-rinse spray nozzles, and residential and commercial rain sensors <br />and ET controllers. <br />Technical Assistance <br />Residential Whole House and Outdoor Irrigation Management and Audits <br />Outdoor summertime water use constitutes about 50 % of the total water use in the <br />City. Many residential water customers rely upon irrigation systems to water their <br />lawn and shrubs on a pre-set schedule, based on a programmable logic controller. <br />Unfortunately, some of these customers set the timers and f orget them, such that <br />they often water at inappropriate times such as every day and night, during a <br />rainstorm, or during the day after 1o am and before 6 pm. To this point, the City <br />will look at the cost/benefit of conducting individual residential outdoor irrigation <br />audits, and providing additional education to homeowners regarding low water- <br />uselandscapes, Xeriscaping, and overall soil and plant management. The City will <br />also look at providing rebates for outdoor irrigation equipment, specifically <br />rainfall sensors and ET controllers. <br />The City will also evaluate the benefit of developing a residential whole house <br />audit to help customers identif y and repair leaking appliances and fixtures, replace <br />Cih~ of Brighton Wnter Cofiservntiofi Plnri 23 <br />