Ft Collins 1995 WCPlan

• Project Type: Water Conservation Plan
• Project Name: City of Fort Collins Water Conservation Program
• Title: Water Conservation Program
• Date: 12/21/1995
• County: Larimer
• Water Conservation - Doc Type: Complete Plan

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PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to summarize the Water Utility's water conservation program for
1994. An additional objective is to review the progress in meeting the goals and objectives of
the Demand Management Resolution (Resolution 92-63), as called for in section 2, item #4 of
the resolution. A copy of the resolution is included as Attachment A.

DEMAND MANAGEMENT RESOLUTION: STATUS OF INDIVIDUAL MEASURES

The Demand Management Resolution directs staff to implement 12 specific water conservation
measures. All of these measures, to varying degrees, require not only a work effort for their
establishment, but also for their continued implementation. As of January 1, 1995, nine of the
measures have been established/implemented, two partially so, and one measure has not yet
begun. Following is a summary of the current status of each of the measures.

1. Implement an oneoine leak detection proeram.

In February of 1993, the leak detection program was initiated. The program consists of two
full-time employees utilizing state-of-the-art electronic equipment to gradually "sweep" the
entire distribution system, identifying and repairing leaks as they go. Additionally, water
mains underneath all streets scheduled for re-paving are checked for leaks, prior to the
paving work. They are able to accomplish this work year-round, except when there is
significant snow cover:

In June of 1994, the leak detection crew reached the milestone of completing its first sweep
of the entire distribution system. The crew then began its second sweep of the system, in
search of new leaks and leaks that were not caught the first time. '

- .f)ufiag- .J.994, the leak-detecti:olT tfeW-wanTh1e -to -c1iecK '2)) miles of c1istrihution system,
which represents about 56 % of the entire system. As a result of their work, 43 non-visible
leaks totaling an estimated 380 gallons per minute were located and repaired. It is difficult
to convert that discharge figure into a volume of water saved, since it is unknown how long
these leaks would have otherwise continued before "surfacing" and being noticed.
However, for the sake of making an estimate, a reasonable assumption would be that the
leaks would have continued for 6 months before becoming visible, and consequently
repaired. With that assumption, the 1994 leak detection efforts resulted in a savings of
approximately 100 million gallons of water. At our current inside-city water rates, this
represents a value of approximately $104,000.

At this time, it is estimated that losses in the water distribution system are 6%, which
amounts to about 1,800 acre-feet of water per year. This is nothing more than a best guess,
however, as it is not possible to precisely determine the amount of system loss for our case.
That is because we have the additional unknown of water use by non-metered customers.