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00:5';, WATER NEWS DIGEST 19 WATER CONSERVATION Denver Water Department Begins New Water Conservation Study at Airport In our last issue. we reponed that the Denver Water Department and U.S. Envirorunental Protection Agency are cooperating in a test of low-volwne 3.5 ga!lons-per,f1ush (gpf) toilets at Denver's Stapleton Airport. The toilets actually use a much more water- conservative 1.5 gpf. Our apologies for the inaccuracy and thanks to John Wilder. Special Assistant in Operations and Management with the Board of Warer Commissioners, for the correction and for additional information on the study, On November 21 the Denver Warer Department and EPA began their sbJdy of the efficiency and public acceptability of 1.5 gallons- per-flush Wall-hlID2 toilets. The toilets were installed in two public restrooms, one men's and one women's room, at Stapleton Airport. Data will be collected over the next four months and evaluated against a baseline of the 3.5 gpf toilets, The number of 1.5 gpf toilets being tested are as follows: 10 in the women's restroom and five in the men's restroom. In addition, each toilet is individually recorded as to the number of flushes and time of flush to record incidence of double flushing. Computers will be used to collect and process data that give information on average water use per flush, total waler use per restroom area. use of water in each stall, and frequency of double flushing, Public response will be measured by non-scheduled interviews. In addition, Wastewater flow from the test restrooms is further restricted by self-canceling lavatory faucets on all lavatories and gpf urinals in the men's restroom. Thus the restrooms will be tested using complete conservation devices in order that a comprehensive evaluation may be made with respect to the 1.5 gpf toilets. Additionally, the wall-hung toilets that use high water consumption blow-out flush valves to overcome the lack of gravity found in floor-rnolDlt toilets have been used in the past in high traffic areas of public use and are preferred by architects, engineers, and building owners, due to their ease of maintenance and cleanliness advantages over the floor-set gravity toilets. Denver will use results of the study to determine whether to install the 1.5 gpf wall-bung toilets in the New Denver Airport public restrooms as well as requiring very-low-flow toilets in new construction as called for in a recently passed city ordinance. Implementation of the ordinance is being delayed pending the fmdings of this research program as well as scientific studies in progress elsewhere in the U.S. The Denver Water Department is supervising the study, which is being conducted by the Stevens InstibJte of Technology, a New Jersey engineering school. The study will be monitored by the Denver Building Code's Revision Committee on Plumbing, composed of practicing consulting engineers specializing in the field of plwnbing and mechanic a! engineering; plwnbing contractors; Plumbers' Union Local No.3; representatives of the Denver Waste Warer Department's engineering staff; the city's Chief Plwnbing Inspector; the Chief Mechanica1JPlwnbing Plan Review Engineer for the City; and Denver Hea!th Department Environmental Hea!th Division staff. The committee is chaired by a representative of the Denver Water Department In addition. there will be close coordination of the study with representatives of the American Association of Plumbing Engineers (A,S,P,E,) and the Region vm Office of the Environmental Protection Agency. Denver Water Department Praises Consumer Conservation Denver water use decreased 7.6 million gallons during the wet summer of 1991 and half the credit goes to the consumer, not the weather, according to the Denver Water Department Water- use from May through September in Denver and severa! suburbs was 19 percent less than a typical 1980s season. Water use is down about 8.5 percent for the entire year. The Denver Water Deparbnent employs three full-time residential auditors who will give homeowners free water use audits, and make recommendations and assist in the installation of water conservation equipment Source: Rocky Mountain News 10/4191 Castle Rock Saves Buckets of Water and Cash Castle Rock, Colorado, population 8700. conserved 10 million gallons of water in 1990, a 30 percent reduction from previous years. The town also saved $65,000 in water costs and pumpingexpenses. Parks and public lands within the town limits were xeriscaped in 1990. Devices were installed that turn off the town's sprinkler systems during rainstorms, and town-owned land is watered only once every three days. In addition, the town delivered free water-saving kits to every water customer in town. The kits, costing Castle Rock under a dollar apiece" contained a displace- ment bag for a toilet tank, flow rescrictors for showers and faucets, and dye tablets to detect water leaks. Castle Rock homes water lawns one day out of three. Source: U,S, Water News 10191 Water Conservation PoD Results Mixed Two out of three Americans sUIVeyed gave themselves a "B" for water conservation but a "D" or "F" for their recent efforts to clean up local water resources.. In a recent Yankelovich Clancy Shuhnan/Coors Pure Water 2000 survey, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they would favor tax breaks for individuals who take the initiative to clean up local water supplies. Twenty-two percent would be willing to pay additional taxes to establish more water protection programs, but only 19 percent said they had acbJa!ly volun~red to participate in loca! warer cleanup efforts, Source: U,S. Water News 10191