2016 WaterSense®
Excellence Award
Promote Program
look for
Winners
Goals
WaterSense and its partners have helped Americans save 1.5 trillion gallons of water and
$32.6 billion in water and energy bills since the program began a decade ago. In 2015
alone, WaterSense labeled products saved 437 billion gallons of water. Through
collaborative efforts, WaterSense partners across the country continue to save water for
future generations.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pleased to recognize nine Excellence
Award winners for helping to advance and promote specific aspects of the WaterSense
program in 2015.
EXCELLENCE IN STRATEGIC COLLABORATION
Cascade (Washington) Water Alliance
To earn its Excellence Award for Strategic Collaboration, the Cascade (Washington)
Water Alliance demonstrated how to make the best of relationship building with a
diverse portfolio of partners. In 2015, Cascade established a partnership with Built
Green, a nonprofit residential building program in the greater Seattle area, to
encourage the construction of WaterSense labeled homes in Washington. Cascade
provides $1,000 rebates to builders who construct homes to meet WaterSense and Built Green criteria. Cascade also
collaborated with the King County Housing Authority to audit 112 affordable housing units for potential water savings,
as well as provide 156 WaterSense labeled showerheads and aerators and 12 WaterSense labeled toilets for retrofits.
To encourage water-efficient practices in local schools, Cascade developed the Teacher Fellows Program, which
recruits master teachers and enables them to develop water-based science and social studies curricula that have been
adopted by local school districts. To save water and promote WaterSense in the commercial sector, Cascade
collaborated with SWB Consulting to install more than 600 labeled showerheads, aerators, and pre-rinse spray valves
in schools, restaurants, and health clubs. Cascade also worked with WaterSense promotional partner Puget Sound
Energy to offer residential rebates for 1,064 WaterSense labeled showerheads. Cascade developed a Water
Conservation for Real Estate Professionals workshop, which provided training for 196 real estate appraisers and
brokers about the value of water and how to achieve water efficiency in homes.
CASCADE
WATER ALLIANCE
High Sierra Showerheads
Although it is a small company with only five employees, High Sierra
Showerheads earned its Excellence Award for Strategic Collaboration by successfully
partnering with state and local agencies to make a big splash in water-efficient
technology. High Sierra worked with the California Department of Corrections &
Rehabilitation to identify a WaterSense labeled tamper-proof showerhead that would be
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PHONE (866) WTR-SENS (987-7367) WEBSITE www.epa.gov/watersenseEMAlLwatersense@epa.gov
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2016 WaterSense® Excellence Award Winners Promote Program Goals
suitable for the specification requirements of prisons and correctional facilities. The department worked to retrofit more
than 6,000 showerheads in facilities to save an estimated 385 million gallons annually.
After a successful piiot in which tenants expressed satisfaction with High Sierra's 1.5 gallon-per-minute WaterSense
labeled showerheads, the Fresno (California) Housing Authority entered into an agreement to install the showerheads
in more than 2,500 homes. The company also partnered with Colorado Springs Utilities to install 1,400 showerheads in
Colorado federal and state facilities, including the Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado College, and
El Paso County's Criminal Justice Center, allowing these facilities to fulfill their goals and requirements to use water-
efficient products.
EXCELLENCE IN PROMOTING WATERSENSE LABELED PRODUCTS
City of Durham (North Carolina) Water Management
DURHAM The City of Durham (North Carolina) Water Management agency led several campaigns and events
in 2015 to educate its community about WaterSense and promote WaterSense labeled products.
During Fix a Leak Week, the city partnered with The Home Depot and Lowe's Home improvement to
offer water conservation clinics to nearly 130 customers at local stores, featuring displays with the
WaterSense logo. The city joined the National
Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation and
showcased WaterSense labeled products via
I television and online advertisements,
Facebook, and participation in public events,
reaching over 3,600 people. As a community
effort in 2015, the city's mayor was featured in
ads showing the installation of WaterSense labeled
showerheads and faucet aerators to demonstrate water
efficiency. In addition to promoting WaterSense at events, the
City of Durham also provided 691 WaterSense labeled toilet
rebates to qualified customers and conducted nearly 280
residential and commercial water audits. The city also sold 277
water efficiency kits that included WaterSense labeled
showerheads, faucet aerators, and other efficient products.
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CITY OF MEDICINE
The City of Durham promoted its WaterSense labeled
toilet rebate program at community events throughout
2015.
Sonoma-Marin (California) Saving Water Partnership
In earning an Excellence Award for Promoting WaterSense Labeled Products, the Sonoma-
Marin Saving Water Partnership (SMSWP) in Santa Rosa, California, promoted WaterSense
labeled products in a hands-on fashion. SMSWP's Drought Drive-Up events allowed 1,200
SAVING WATER participants to walk, bike, or drive up to the event locations and build their own custom
drought tool kit made up of WaterSense labeled showerheads and other water-saving
gadgets, SMSWP premiered a Water Smart Home show booth in 2015 featuring WaterSense
labeled products at events, including a fair where SMSWP educated approximately 270,000
people over a 15-day span. Fair attendees could wear a fake mustache and take a selfie in a
mirror featuring the WaterSense promotional label to post on social media. The Partnership's Water Smart Home show
booth was also put on display at the Santa Rosa Plaza Mall, which had around 5.5 million visitors in 2015, for 28 days.
SMSWP also educates K-12 classrooms on WaterSense and works with the Sonoma County Green Business
Program to educate green businesses on WaterSense labeled products.
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2016 WaterSense® Excellence Award Winners Promote Program Goals
EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
City of Carmel (Indiana) Utilities
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In 2015, the City of Carmel (Indiana) Utilities used all the WaterSense outreach campaigns
and many other partner tools to promote water efficiency. The utility promoted Fix a Leak
Week with more than 20 tweets or retweets of #FixALeakWeek, a press release, and a cover
article in the Full Circle, a tri-annual newsletter sent to more than 27,000 customers. The utility
also reached tens of thousands of residents with its "Leaky Toilets" YouTube video on how to
fix toilet leaks and also promoted the benefits of WaterSense labeled toilets. During Sprinkler
Spruce-Up, the utility worked with			
The Home Depot and created a
workshop on maintaining and improving irrigation systems.
The workshop was promoted in the Full Circle and via email
blasts to neighborhood associations. The utility partnered
with Delta Faucet Company to promote WaterSense labeled
showerheads at the mayor's State of the City Address, which
was hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce, to more
than 600 attendees during Shower Better in October. Carmel
Mayor Jim Brainard proclaimed October as "Shower Better
Month" and promoted the importance of water efficiency to
the citizens of Carmel.
The City of Carmel worked with WaterSense retailer
partner The Home Depot to conduct workshops about
maintaining and improving irrigation systems during
Sprinkler Spruce-Up.
The utility collaborated again with The Home Depot during
October 2015 by hosting clinics that educated the community
about water efficiency. At the 2015 Public Safety Day, the
City of Carmel Utilities developed a "water wheel" game featuring the WaterSense partner logo that asked participants
questions about WaterSense labeled products. More than 5,000 people participated in the Public Safety Day event.
The City of Carmel also participated in a variety of other events, promoting WaterSense to more than 5,000 people
throughout the year.
City of Fort Worth (Texas)
The City of Fort Worth (Texas) is earning an Excellence Award for Education and
Outreach in 2015 for events that reached a range of audiences. During Fix a Leak
Week 2015, Fort Worth partnered with a local running club to host its first 5-
kilometer "Chasing Leaks, Fixing Flappers" running race. Several area WaterSense
partners and EPA helped with outreach before and during the event. The event
included educational activities and demonstrations explaining to the 150 racers and
other visitors how to find and fix leaks and showing how much water a leaking toilet can waste in a week. Another
effort targeting toilets is the city's SmartFlush Toilet Program, through which more than 4,000 WaterSense labeled
toilets were distributed to residential and commercial customers.
In an effort to improve understanding the types of plants that are adapted to North Texas climates, the City of Fort
Worth partnered with the North Central Texas Council of Governments and The Home Depot to hold 28 regional plant
sales to promote water-efficient landscapes. Bill stuffers and an e-magazine helped to carry the water-smart landscape
message to consumers. To promote water efficiency to a younger audience, the city participated in Waterama, a two-
day festival that educated fifth grade students on all aspects of water use, treatment, and reclamation. In 2015, the city
also hosted its first Water Efficiency @ Work Symposium, which targeted commercial and industrial facilities in Fort
Worth with water efficiency best management practices.
Fort Worth.
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2016 WaterSense® Excellence Award Winners Promote Program Goals
Regional Water Authority (California)
To earn its Excellence Award for Education and Outreach, the Regional Water
Authority (RWA) demonstrated that it's never too early to start educating kids about
the importance of saving water. Partnering with the Sacramento Bee Media in
Education Program, RWA sponsored a "Be Water Smart Decorating" contest for
preschool through fifth grade students to decorate pictures of RWA's detective-
inspired mascot, Les Leaky, as he hunts down leaks and other water-wasting mysteries. More than 420 kids entered
the contest, and the top five winners received $25 Amazon gift certificates. The contest poster was published as a full-
page, double-sided Sacramento Bee advertisement during Fix a Leak Week 2015 accompanied by an infographic with
practical water-saving tips, educating adults as well as kids. RWA made a Fix a Leak Week radio spot that played on
iHeartMedia channels throughout the Sacramento region. RWA also promoted water-saving tips and demonstrated
how to check for leaks with a WaterSense labeled toilet on a local television program, "Sac & Co." Extending education
to local governments and businesses, RWA used information from WaterSense at Work in a presentation hosted as
part of a local sustainability program series.
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Regional Water Authority
BUILDING ALLIANCES IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
The Toro Company
To earn its Excellence Award for Education and Outreach, the Toro Company reached a
range of audiences through different approaches. In 2015, the company conducted 46
training events and displayed at 22 trade shows and expos to educate contractors,
distributors, and consumers on water-efficient practices and WaterSense labeled products.
Toro continued its partnership with the Wyland Foundation's National Mayor's Challenge for
Water Conservation, which encourages residents to commit to water-saving activities. This
partnership allowed the company to share information on outdoor water-efficient products with a broader audience not
typically reached through traditional channels. In addition to providing 60 WaterSense labeled controllers to
participating households across the country, Toro introduced a calendar that featured "Water is Life" artwork by
elementary school children and participated in community events with Wyland in California and Texas.
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In 2015, Toro embarked on a new endeavor by sponsoring and producing a weekly radio program, "The Water Zone,"
on KCAA in southern California to educate the public on products and best practices for outdoor water efficiency. One
of the early episodes featured a speaker from WaterSense discussing the benefits of labeled controllers. Toro also
launched a new website in 2015, watersmart.toro.com, dedicated to educating the public about water-saving products
and practices, rebate information on water-efficient products, and links to government websites such as WaterSense.
EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION AND RESEARCH
American Standard
To earn its Excellence Award for Innovation and Research, American	. CLL-. J J
Standard took water-efficient faucet product innovation to new heights in /iWWTlu&W
2015 when it engineered and manufactured residential faucets created with
three-dimensional printing. Sold under the DXV by American Standard brand, these are the first ready-for-market
residential faucets to be printed in metal, and all three designs meet WaterSense performance and efficiency criteria.
American Standard also worked closely with the Plumbing Efficiency Research Coalition to explore the performance
effects of flushometer-valve toilets on drainline carry in plumbing systems. The research was critical in helping
WaterSense to finalize its specification for commercial flushometer-valve toilets. As a result of its drainline carry
research efforts, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials named C.J. Lagan, American
Standard's senior manager of testing and compliance and fixtures, its "2015 Industry Person of the Year."
Learn More
WaterSense congratulates all of the 2016 Excellence Award winners. For more information about the WaterSense
Partner of the Year awards and to learn about all the benefits of partnership, visit www.epa.gov/watersense.
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