Gilcrest WC Project Final Report

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and had to be filed and sanded to make sure the new flapper would be water tight in the closed position. Opportunities for increasing education and water conservation follow. a. So.e water savings fro. the project resulted fro. the contractor's finding and fixing existing leaks. At least 32 households (13%) had leaks that were detected by the contractor (significantly more than the average of 5% the contractor generally finds in other communities). In most cases, they were drippy faucets which the contractor fixed by replacing faucet washers. Several were problems with running toilets which were also fixed, usually by cleaning the down tube and adjusting the flapper. If the contractor could not fix the leaks, he informed the resident so a plumber could be hired. He suggested there were Dore leaks in part because of the mineral deposits that came from the Town's water supply. Any community planning to install such devices should include in their workplan the time and material costs to fix minor leaks in the plumbing fixtures. b. Once in the ho.e, the auditor had ti.e to talk to residents about water conserving practices. The auditors were trained about water conserving practices in the home and for outside irrigation. They were instructed to hand out water conservation pamphlets and to instruct the homeowner about water conserving practices such as. only washing clothes and dishes with a full load, using toilets only for sanitary wastes. filling up the sink to wash dishes, putting water pitchers in the refrigerator, watering in the early morning and evening. etc. This activity provided an opportunity for residents to ask questions and to hear directly ways they could save water. TASK 3. PUBLIC EDUCATION BACKGROUND As noted above, Gilcrest's residents had historically had high per capita water use because of low water rates and the lack of any watering restrictions. There seemed to be very little awareness or concern about the quantity of water used by residents. A public education program was designed to increase the level of knowledge and interest in water conservation. PROJECT PURPOSE To help ease the transition from the relatively inexpensive ground water supply to the higher cost surface water, the Town implemented a multi-faceted public education program. The purpose was to educate the residents about actions they could take to reduce water use and subsequent water bills. The goal was to reduce the Town's total annual water use by 25-30% by encouraging water conservation. 1