Municipalities, Organizations Save Water with High-Efficiency Plumbing Products

Rolling Meadows, IL – July 21, 2015 – Many states require the use of water-efficient plumbing products – including WaterSense® products meeting EPA criteria – in all new construction and renovation. WaterSense products also meet high performance standards and are widely available. However, they can’t save water sitting on store shelves. PMI shares the following water-saving examples – they can be duplicated thousands of times over to save water at the rate needed to achieve water use reduction goals.

Colorado

The Denver Public Schools took proactive action to save water by replacing 3,200 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf) toilets with toilets using only 1.25 gpf – saving the city 65.9 million gallons of water a year. The schools plan to install 6,800 more water-efficient toilets, according to a story by the Denver Post, to save at least 100 million gallons more.

Georgia

Cobb County, Georgia decreased water use in metropolitan Atlanta by 10 million gallons a day over a three-year period despite adding about 100,000 customers. Contributing to these savings was Cobb County’s successful toilet rebate program, through which 2,500 WaterSense toilets were installed during 2013 alone. The county created awareness about the WaterSense program through an e-newsletter and social media – and even distributed water efficiency kits containing WaterSense showerheads and faucet aerators to nearly 400 runners participating in the Water Drop Dash 5-kilometer race and Water Festival, according to the EPA’s WaterSense website.

Texas

The San Antonio Water System created the WaterSaver Hotel program to provide hotels with rebate incentives to install high-efficiency plumbing fixtures saving water and energy. The 470-room Hilton Palacio del Rio Hotel replaced its older toilets, faucets and showerheads with WaterSense or other water-efficient fixtures in 2007. As a result, the hotel reduced water consumption by 49 percent – saving 26 million gallons or 80 acre-feet of water per year – while saving $160,000 in water, sewer and energy costs per year, according to a case study published by the EPA’s WaterSense program.

Washington

The city of Pullman, Washington, took proactive action in 2008 to save water. As a result, the city has saved 8.4 million gallons of water a year since then. What did Pullman do? The city offered residents up to $125 to replace older toilets – many of which used 3.0 to 4.0 gallons per flush (gpf) – with water-efficient toilets using 1.6 gpf or less. More than 2,000 toilets were replaced – 1,000 in 2014 alone, according to the Associated Press.

Homes and businesses can save significant amounts of water with ready-to-use, high efficiency WaterSense toilets, showerheads, faucets, urinals or pre-rinse spray valves. Meeting EPA criteria, all of these products are 20 percent more water efficient than required by federal standards and meet performance standards assuring consumer satisfaction.

About PMI

Plumbing Manufacturers International is the voluntary, not-for-profit international industry association of manufacturers of plumbing products, serving as the Voice of the Plumbing Industry. Member companies produce about 90 percent of the nation’s plumbing products. As part of its mission, PMI advocates for plumbing product performance and innovation contributing to water savings, sustainability, public health and safety, and consumer satisfaction. For more information on PMI or its conferences, contact the organization at 1921 Rohlwing Road, Unit G, Rolling Meadows, IL, 60008; tel.: 847-481-5500; fax: 847-481-5501. Visit our website at www.safeplumbing.org.

Contacts

Ray Valek, ray@valekco.com, 708-352-8695

Dawn Robinson, drobinson@safeplumbing.org, Office: 847-481-5500 ext. 103, Cell: 847-217-6848