agenda city of watsonville city council/redevelopment agency meeting

A. Water Survey Programs for Single Family Residential and Multi Family Residential Customers
Since 1992, the City has offered water audits for residential customers who request them when
confronted with unusually high water bills. No data is available regarding the number of water audits
conducted prior to 2008. The City generally focuses its limited resources on more general education
programs, since they have proven to more efficiently reach a larger number of people. In addition, the
City offers free plumbing accessories to help reduce and conserve residential water usage.
In 2006, the City began to conduct water use surveys of single family and multiple family residential
customers in an attempt to identify the top water users in single family and multiple family residential
units. Following a survey of exterior and indoor water uses, City staff may provide recommendations to
the customers regarding ways to reduce water consumption. Specific survey activities may include, but
are not limited to:
Checking for leaks.
Installation of low flow showerheads and faucet aerators.
Identifying high use water fixtures and providing information on opportunities to replace such
units with water conserving units.
Evaluating exterior water uses.
Providing information on low water use landscaping.
Recommending adjustments to irrigation system controls.
Providing site-specific recommendations for water efficient and pollution prevention
landscaping practices.
Table 6.A - Water Survey Programs including Toilet retrofits
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Number of Single and Multi
Family Residential Surveys
750 640 725 746 750
Costs $75,000 $64,000 $72,500 $95,243 $100,343
Projected Water Savings
(Acre Feet/Year) * 30 25.6 29 28.9 29.7
*
Each survey is estimated to save 25 -35 gallons per day (0.028 - 0.040 AFY)
In a measure to evaluate the effectiveness of DMM A City staff will conduct surveys on an ongoing basis
and will periodically follow-up and analyze water use of customers who already have been surveyed.
The City has $130,000 budgeted per year for DMMs A and B.
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