REDUCING WATER USAGE AND TIME IN THE INSPECTION OF WATER SUB-METERS

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

The Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures is responsible for the inspection and testing of all water sub-meters in San Bernardino County where a tenant is being charged for metered water. Before meters can be installed at a mobile home park, apartment, or other location in the County, they must be tested. There are over 34,000 registered water sub-meters in the County and approximately 10% of these meters are lab tested by County staff each year. The small capacity of the old water test bench allowed only five meters to be tested at a time while using about 200 gallons of water per test run, resulting in approximately 200,000 gallons of water being used each year. Additionally, the old test bench did not have the capability to recycle the water which was subsequently lost as waste water. This program has upgraded the water meter bench to allow for an increased number of meters to be tested at one time and has the benefit of recycling the water used for testing. This has resulted in the County operating more efficiently, conserving water and, as a bonus, having the program cost savings pay for the project in a very short period of time.