United States April 1991
Environmental Protection 21W—7004
Agency
Office of Water (WH 595)
Two Small Towns
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INFORMATION FROM:
National Small Flows Clearinghouse
West Virginia University; P.O. Box 6064
! Morgantown, WV 26506-6064
Toll Free: 1-800-624-8301
Your EPA Regional Office
SmaU-Commuhity Outreach & Education (SCORE) Coordinators
O Boston'' (Conn., Maine, Mass., N.H., R.I., Vt.)
JFK Federal Bldg.; Boston, MA 02203
! 617-565-3492
© New York (N.J., N.Y.,P.R., V.I.)
! 26 Federal Plaza; New York, NY 10278
; 212-264-8969
i
® Philadelphia (Del., Md., Pa., Va., W.Va., D.C.)
. 841 Chestnut Bldg.; Philadelphia, PA 19107
! 215-597-6526
O- Atlanta (Ala., Ga., Fla., Miss., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Ky.)
: 345 Courtland St., NE; Atlanta, GA 30365
I 404-347-3633
© Chicago (111., Ind., Ohio, Mich., Minn., Wis.)
230 S. Dearborn St.; Chicago, IL 60604
312-886-0246
© Dallas (Ark., La., Okla., Tex., N. Mex.)
: 1445 Ross Ave.; Dallas, TX 75202
: 214-655-7130
@ Kansas City (Iowa, Kans., Mo., Nebr.)
: 726 Minnesota Ave.; Kansas City, KS 66101
I 913-551-7217
© Denver (Colo., Utah, Wyo., Mont., N.D., S.D.)
One Denver Place; 999-18th St.; Suite 500;
i Denver, CO 80202-2405; 303-293-1560
© San Francisco (Ariz., Calif., Guam, Hawaii, Nev., Amer
: Samoa, Trust Territories of the Pacific)
75 Hawthorne St; San Francisco, CA 94105
415_744-1935
® Seattle1 (Alaska, Idaho, Oreg., Wash.)
1200 Sixth Ave.(WD-085); Seattle, WA
98101; 206-553-8575
Produced for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office
of Municipal Pollution Control; under Contract # 68-C9-0040
(3)
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The challenge. Faced with water shortages, this
central Texas town of 1,155 people near Waco realized
big savings through an organized effort in 1988 to save
water. Lorena served its users through 585 connections.
Progressive water rate. A previous conservation
effort cut water consumption by one-third. It did this by
charging more for higher water usage.
Two new goals. Lorena now aimed to reduce watei
use by 20 gallons a person per day and to cut the amount
of water lost by leaky pipes.
An organized plan. Town officials first identified
the town's biggest water users. Next, they developed a
water conservation plan. Then they explained it to their ci
izens. These simple steps are the keys to Lorena's succes:
Public-education. Two months before the plan tool
effect, the town sent customers letters that explained the
plan anrl the benefits of saving water. It sent followup
information periodically.
Universal metering and meter repair. The town
metered all users and began a maintenance program. It
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also produced charts that showed the total number of gal-
lons pumped monthly and the quantity per customer.
These measures helped cut daily water use by 28 gallons a
person. ;
Leak detection and repair of pipes. Lorena bought
modern leak detection equipment. Now it can repair leaks
in a matter of hours.
New building code. Lorena adopted a new building
code that requires water-saving plumbing fixtures and
insulated hot water pipes in all new construction. Now
local plumbing and hardware stores stock water-saving
toilets and showerheads.
Recycling water. The town plans to use treated
wastewater- instead of fresh water to irrigate a school
athletic field. This will save at least 5 million gallons a
year.
Water saved is money saved. Lorena more than met
its water conservation goals. Lorena's 585 customers saved
an average of $50 a year—a town-wide savings of $29,250.
Water use was cut dramatically and water lost through dis-
tribution pipes was greatly reduced. The Town estimates it
saved 6 million gallons the first year. Officials credit the
plan's success to their citizens, who worked together to
make conservation a normal part of everyday life.
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The challenge. Prolonged dro Light caused this agri-
cultural community of 220 people in northeast Kansas to
adopt water conservation measures in 1989. Using a few
simple steps, Bern cut its water use by about 20 percent.
Consumer education. Letters to customer? and local
newspaper iarticles explained the need to conserve water and
asked everyone in the community to cooperate.
Persqn-to-person contact. Town officials personal-
ly discussed water conservation strategies with three com-
mercial users who account for about half of the town's
water use. One was able to cut its water use nearly in half
by changing its production process.
Modified livestock cleaning practices. Bern farmers
switched from automatic flush systems for cleaning live-
stock .areas to manual ones. This cut their water use in half.
Water rate changes. Higher costs for higher use
encouraged conservation.
Restricted use. Lawn watering and car washing were
restricted, i
rrrr
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Water-saving toilet kits. The Kansas Rural Water
Association provided free kits to the town. The kits con-
tained dye tablets to detect leaks and toilet tank bags to
reduce water volume.
Water-saving showerheads. These reduced the usual
5-gallon-per-minute flow to 1.8 gallons. The town bought
the showerheads and distributed them to users at cost.
Keys to success. Sometimes being small has big
advantages. Town officials were able to speak directly
with their biggest customers with dramatic results. And
residents now understand and are committed to the wise
use of the area's most finite resource—water.
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As a small community official, you wonder how you'll solve your
town's water problems. You rnay face a water shortage or need to
expand your water and wastewater facilities. You may feel there is little
you can do to make a difference in your town's water and energy needs.
Read how officials in two small towns—perhaps like yours—saved
water and money through carefully designed water conservation
plans. They reduced energy costs as well because less water was
pumped and treated and less heated for home and industrial use. And
they did it without significantly changing the life styles or reducing
the quality of life of their citizens.
You can make a difference, too. Remember that using water wisely
saves money and helps prevent pollution. Then take a new look at
how your town uses water. See if the simple steps taken by these two
small towns can be the keys to success for your town.
This is a Small Community Outreach &
Education (SCORE) publication.
SCORE is EPA's wastewater information
& technical assistance program for small
communities.
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