Loveland Indoor Retrofit Final Report

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City of Loveland Department of Water and Power Water Use Assessment and Retrofit Project Project Summary In March 1992, the City of Loveland W ater/W astewater Department, now known as the City of Loveland Water and Power Department, received a grant from the Colorado Of- fice of Water Conservation. The grant provided money to: I) conduct indoor water audits, and 2) install water-conserving plumbing devices in single-family homes. The re- ceipt of the grant was announced in the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald (Attachment A) and the CSU Collegian (Attachment B). Between October 1992 and January 1993,591 households participated in the audit pro- ject. City of Loveland water customers living in single-family detached homes were eligi- ble to participate. The marketing strategy focused on customers with the highest water use; and as a result, approximately half of the households participating had above- average water use. The WaterlWastewater Department did the scheduling and provided the fixtures to be in- stalled. Environmental Assets Recovery Services, Inc., an auditing firm, was hired to per- form the audit and retrofit services in the homes on an appointment basis. The auditors provided their own audit equipment and tools. Showerheads, early-closing flappers for toilets and faucet aerators were installed in the homes. Audits included checking for leaks and measuring the flow capacities of existing fixtures. Residents were left with informa- tion about indoor and outdoor water conservation. The audit project was well received by the households that participated. Of the 591 homes in the project, 520 were valid a year later for analysis. Data for the 520 homes, the audit group, and the population as a whole consisted of monthly average water usage as recorded on January, February and March bills during 1992 and 1993. The audit group had significantly higher water use than the general population. The statistical analysis found that the higher the water use, the higher the percent savings from the retrofit de- vices. Reduction in water use for the audit group from 1992 to 1993 was 19.9 percent. However, this result must be used cautiously because other variables, besides the retrofit devices, may have contributed to the reduced water use. With that caution in mind, water reduction for the general population was estimated at 17.7 percent with the installation of retrofit devices. The total cost of the project was $26,179.54. With 591 homes participat- ing, the cost per home was $44.30.