look for
Fix a Leak Week
Campaign Summaries
2009-2012
To put a stop to the more than 1 trillion gallons of water wasted from easy-to-fix
household leaks each year, WaterSense® promotes Fix a Leak Week in March of
each year. Coast to coast, WaterSense partners hold events to help people learn
about how much water is wasted through simple household leaks.
FIX A LEAK WEEK 2009
Demonstration Project in Phoenix
EPA officially launched Fix a Leak Week on March 16,
2009, at the home of Debbie and Dennis Jobin,
longtime residents of Phoenix, Arizona. One week
earlier, on March 9, EPA and its partners the Arizona
Department of Water Resources, City of Phoenix, and
Ferguson, set up a demonstration project in the Jobin's
driveway to show just how much water is lost due to
leaky plumbing fixtures in seven days.
The display included two toilets, two faucets, and a
showerhead, each slowly dripping. Over the course of
the week, the fixtures leaked more than 200 gallons of
water, enough to meet the Jobin's daily drinking water
needs for a whole year!
To help prevent future leaks in the Jobin's house, the
City of Phoenix replaced old fixtures with new
WaterSense labeled toilets and faucets. These new
high-efficiency fixtures will save them water and money
in the future. The fixtures were generously donated by
Ferguson, a WaterSense partner. In addition, EPA
donated the water collected in the cistern to a company
for use irrigating local businesses and schools.
Phoenix was an ideal community to launch the first
annual Fix a Leak Week. In 2008, the Arizona
Department of Water Resources won the WaterSense
State Challenge, which challenged state governments
to recruit utilities to join WaterSense. Arizona had
impressive results by nearly quadrupling its original
number of WaterSense utility partners.
City of Phoenix, arid Ferguson, set up a demonstration project in
the driveway of a homeowner.
Fix a Leak Week Pledge
How long have you been ignoring that pitter patter
coming from the shower? While leaks might
sometimes seem like smaii problems, overtime they
can waste both valuable water resources and money.
On average, a U.S. household can leak 11,000
gallons of water per year.
Household water leaks rob homeowners of 12 percent
of their water bill through problems such as worn-out
toilet flappers, dripping faucets, and leaking valves. In
2009, WaterSense initiated the Fix a Leak Week
Pledge and asked for a commitment to repair some of
these common household leaks. Homeowners across
the country responded by pledging to fix leaks that
totaled more than 5.5 million gallons of water! If
everyone enforced their pledge that would be enough
water to fill more than 550 backyard swimming pools!
(866) WTR-SENS (987-7367) WEBSITE www.epa.gov/watersense EMAIL watersense@epa.gov
A rQA EPA-832-F-17-003
^SVlZl^rV April 2017
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Fix A Leak Week 2009-2012
FIX A LEAK WEEK 2010
Dallas Saves Over 2 Million Gallons!
The City of Dallas "Great Dallas Fix a Leak Roundup' gave
residential water customers free WaterSense labeled products.
In order to identify the Fix a Leak Week 2010 spotlight
community, WaterSense asked our partners to submit
their best ideas in a competition for EPA co-
sponsorship of their media event. EPA selected the
"Great Dallas Fix a Leak Roundup." The City of Dallas
operates a program that offers assistance with minor
plumbing problems that may cause water waste and
higher water bills. This program is offered to qualified
low-income residential water customers and provides
high efficiency toilets, showerheads and aerators in
addition to making the repairs, in partnership with EPA,
local plumbers, Kohler, Lowe's, and other
organizations, Dallas cleared over 100 households
from the program's waiting list.
Highlights from Partner Events Nationwide:
At least 26 WaterSense partners around the country
held events promoting Fix a Leak Week in their
communities.
Here are a few highlights:
• The City of Greeley, Colorado held interactive
workshops to teach residents how to find and fix
common household water wasters such as dripping
faucets, running toilets, and leaking showerheads.
• Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District,
Wisconsin, gave 18 classrooms the opportunity to
learn the ABC's of saving water during Fix a Leak
Week. Students followed the WaterSense Fix a
Leak Weak curriculum, a guide to teaching the
importance of saving water by fixing ieaks.
Students also participated in an optional project
about their Fix a Leak Week experience. The
resulting posters, video, and other artwork were
displayed at a waterfront festival in Milwaukee.
• San Antonio Water System, Texas, challenged its
local residents to check for leaks and answer
questions about water savings in order to qualify
for a free WaterSense labeled toilet, San Antonio
residents also had the opportunity to earn a credit
towards their water bill if they completed the
utility's Fix a Leak Week checklist.
• As one of seven events they held nationwide,
American Water teamed up with state officials and
West Virginia's First Lady Gayle Manchin to
educate students at J.E. Robbins Elementary
School in Charleston about the importance of wise
water use and finding and fixing household leaks.
• Built in 1668, the House of Seven Gables inspired
Nathaniel Hawthorne to write his legendary novel
by the same name and is the oldest surviving
wooden mansion in New England. Local after-
school programs joined EPA and the City of
Salem to learn about finding and fixing leaks. A
poster contest highlighting how water efficiency
improvements and retrofits can be made to
historic homes at a low cost was also part of the
festivities.
• Cascade Water Alliance, Washington, mailed leak
detection kits to 100,000 households, provided a
public service announcement to local cable TV
channels, and partnered with McLendon's and
Sammamish Plateau Ace Hardware to offer
rebates on water-efficient products.
West Virginia American Water, state officials, and West Virginia's
first lady Gayle Manchin educated children at J.E. Robins
Elementary School in Charleston about the importance of finding
and fixing leaks.
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Fix A Leak Week 2009-2012
FIX A LEAK WEEK 2011
WaterSense Partners Help Spread the Word About
Fix a Leak Week
Thanks to the outreach efforts of WaterSense partners
across the country, more than 9.3 million people
learned about Fix a Leak Week in 2011. Armed with
information about finding and fixing households leaks,
consumers were able to "check, twist, and replace"
their way to water savings over the course of the week.
Arizona Runners Chase Down Leaks
The Arizona Municipal
Water Users Association
(AMWUA), Arizona, took
advantage of Arizona's mild
spring weather and avid
running community to craft
an attention-grabbing event
to host the national Fix a
Leak Week kickoff for 2011.
Their hook? A professionally-timed race, lead by larger-
than-life toilet mascot Leaky Loo McFlapper, to engage
the community in a challenge to chase down and fix
leaks.
The Arizona Municipal Water Users Association We're for Water 4-
Mile Race with Leaky Loo McFlapper.
AMWUA also brought local media outlets on a tour of
one of the most water-efficient homes in Phoenix,
Arizona to reveal how simple projects can go a long
way toward saving water and money. Homeowner
Sean Pierce had transformed his home one repair at a
time, fixing leaks and replacing fixtures when
necessary. In doing so, he has saved about 40,000
gallons of water and about $150 on utility bills per year.
Partner Events from Around the Country
WaterSense partners held events in every corner of
the country to promote Fix a Leak Week in their own
communities. Here are a few highlights:
Katherine Yuhas (Albuquerque County Water Utility Authority) and
Flo were interviewed at a Fix a Leak Week event by the local news.
• Flo, WaterSense's gallon-sized We're for Water
campaign mascot, helped the Albuquerque-
Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority in New
Mexico promote Fix a Leak Week to residents.
• The Town of Gary, North Carolina, gave residents
the chance to win WaterSense labeled toilets if
they picked up and used free toilet leak detection
kits. The town also sponsored workshops at local
Lowe's and Home Depot stores.
• Cascade Water Alliance in Bellevue, Washington,
mailed leak detection kits to its consumers.
• Flo made an appearance at the Cobb County
Water System "Go Green and Save Green
Workshop" in Marietta, Georgia.
• The Washington, D.C. Water and Sewer Authority
hosted two consumer education events and
distributed We're for Water "check, twist, replace"
resource cards and faucet aerators.
• Austin Water (Texas) held a Fix a Leak Week
community event at the local Home Depot with
demonstrations and vouchers for free
WaterSense labeled toilets.
• More than eight WaterSense partners issued Fix a
Leak Week proclamations and earned media
coverage for their efforts.
WATER
loin the Chase!
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Fix A Leak Week 2009-2012
FIX A LEAK WEEK 2012
Events Around the World
EPA's fourth annual Fix a Leak Week, March 12
through 18, 2012, featured promotional and
educational events across the country and virtual
events across the Internet, all focused on encouraging
Americans to find and fix household leaks. Fix a Leak
Week 2012 also garnered significant media coverage—
more than 500 broadcasts, articles, blog posts, and
other "hits." WaterSense's first-ever Twitter party, held
March 12, found the hashtag #fixaleak trending second
in the United States that hour!
Highlights
• For Fix a Leak Week 2012, Delta Faucet
Company—in partnership with eight EPA Regional
offices, Green Plumbers, United Way, Ronald
McDonald House, other WaterSense Partners, and
various water utilities and city governments fixed
leaks in low-income households and community
facilities in nine cities from coast to coast: Boston,
Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Indianapolis,
Dallas, Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Volunteers replaced leaky toilet flappers and
installed WaterSense labeled faucet aerators and
showerheads in more than 1,000 units, saving an
estimated 7 million gallons of water per year.
• The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer
launched a statewide media campaign featuring a
"Bad Flapper" from the 1920's to help residents
learn how to fix worn toilet flappers. The campaign
included television commercials, "wanted" posters
for hardware stores and customer service desks,
leak detection kits,
and a local Fix a
Leak Week
website. Local
utilities distributed
materials and
hosted events
encouraging leak-
fixing in five New
Mexico cities
featuring Flo, the
We're for Water
spokesgallon.
• Central Arkansas Water (CAW) offered free leak
repairs for low-income customers identified
through billing software, as well as free rain
gauges and WaterSense labeled showerheads for
customers who stopped by the utility offices. Local
Home Depot stores hosted leak-fixing workshops.
In partnership with the Arkansas Cooperative
Extension service, the utility conducted home
sprinkler audits and demonstrations of how to
check sprinklers for leaks.
• The Public Service Commission of West Virginia
organized a two-day event for fourth and fifth
graders at Piedmont Elementary School in
Charleston, West Virginia, to teach students about
saving water. The West Virginia affiliate of
American Water demonstrated how a small leak
can lead to substantial water waste, and students
learned how to be "Leak Detectives" in their own
homes. Flo, the WaterSense spokesgallon,
attended the event.
• Throughout March, Cary, North Carolina
distributed dye tablets to help residents find silent
toilet leaks. A Toilet Training Tutorial of common
toilet leaks and tips for repairs was available
online and at several community centers, and an
interactive water conservation game taught kids
about saving water.
• The Athens-Clarke County Water Conservation
Office partnered with the University of Georgia
Office of Sustainability with a "helping hands"
approach to fixing leaks. Volunteers from Athens-
area churches and faith-based student
organizations at University of Georgia-Athens
performed water conservation audits at churches,
showed residents how to audit homes, and
distributed free WaterSense labeled faucet
aerators and other water-saving devices.
• Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado celebrated
Fix a Leak Week with programs throughout
March, including a WaterSense labeled
showerhead exchange event, and free
WaterSense labeled faucet aerators in exchange
for an old showerhead. Fix a Leak Week featured
plumbing experts, free dye tabs, and a visit from
the utilities' water mascot. A recycled toilet art
exhibit in partnership with a local community
>s-. «w
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Fix A Leak Week 2009-2012
college highlighted a new toilet recycling program
in the area.
The Banks City Council, Oregon, issued a
proclamation declaring Fix a Leak Week, and
customers received a flyer about Fix a Leak Week
in their February water bills. For customers who
mentioned the flyer, select plumbers provided the
first half hour of labor for free during that week. The
city also distributed toothbrushes with WaterSense
messages to elementary school students.
The One for Water 4-Miler was the Arizona
Municipal Water Users Association's second
annual race to beat a running toilet. Leaky Loo
McFlapper, the event's life-sized running toilet
mascot, reminded participants to find and fix leaks.
Following the race, a Family Fun Festival featured
leak-fixing demonstrations provided by Lowe's.
Irving Water Utilities, Texas, has an ongoing leak
detection program that reads residential meters to
identify leaks. Once a leak is detected, the
homeowner can receive a free water audit. The city
provides replacement toilet flappers and faucet
gaskets at no cost, as well as instructions on how
to install these replacements and make minor
repairs.
The City of Monroe Water System, Louisiana, has
an ongoing repair program to help low-incorrie
residents identify and fix leaks. The water system
has installed water meters and used leak detection
features on its software to identify household leaks.
Interactive workshops during Fix a Leak Week
taught residents how to fix dripping faucets,
running toilets, and leaking showerheads.
2011 Partner of the Year Delta Faucet, 2-time Partner of the Year
Cobb County Water System and Green Plumbers teamed up to
find and fix leaks in iow-income households.
A Texas Round Up of Events
The City of Laredo Utilities Department kicked off a
new WaterSense labeled toilet rebate program during
Fix a Leak Week. Qualifying customers receive up to
two $100 rebates for replacing old toilets with
WaterSense labeled models. The Utilities Department
also gave away a free water conservation kit to the
first 1,000 customers. Alien, Texas, provided free
toilet dye tabs to test for leaks and water efficiency
educational materials to area fifth graders. Forney,
Texas, celebrated Fix a Leak Week through a
proclamation at the City Council meeting, advertising,
a Landscape "Surviving the Drought" class, and door
hangers for area homes. Dallas promoted the
importance of fixing leaks through the Delta Faucet
Company event and on the Save Dallas Water
website, billboards, radio, and through the Lawn
Whisperer campaign.
Simple Steps to Big Savings
Drip. Drip. Drip. The average American household wastes more
than 10,000 gallons each year from easy-to-fix water leaks—
that's the amount of water needed to wash 270 loads of laundry,
if that doesn't seem like a lot, consider that across the country,
easy-to-fix household leaks can add up to more than 1 trillion
gallons of water lost every year.
Fixing household leaks not only saves water but reduces water
utility bills—by about 10 percent. Be for water and start saving
today with three simple steps: Check. Twist. Replace.
Learn more about Fix a Leak Week and fixing leaks any time of
year at www.epa.gov/watersense/fix-leak-week.
(Photo: c. 2010 James F. Wilson/Courtesy Builder Magazine)
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