Water Efficiency Program

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

The county of San Diego Water Efficiency program was developed to reduce water consumption and sewer discharge, and their associated costs at County facilities. Water is a scarce resource in Southern California and rates are expected to continue climbing as water reserves shrink and intrastate allocations to local water districts are cut. Since sewer charges are directly related to water consumption is a reduction in electricity expended in transportation, treatment, and disposal of water supply and sewer discharge. This program involves assessing County facility to determine how water is used by plumbing fixtures, plumbing equipment, irrigation, food service, cooling towers, and other water-using systems. Based on the site assessment, opportunities are identified to replace or upgrade these systems to make them more efficient. In order to implement the selected measures, the biggest challenge is funding. This program has produced an annual water savings of 150 million gallons, with an associated cost savings of $1.1 million, compared to the pre-retrofit conditions are existing facilities and reduced annual water usage by 30 percent or more at new construction facilities.