HomeMy WebLinkAbout5603 RESOLUTION NO. 5603
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
AUBURN, WASHINGTON, APPROVING THE CITY'S 2021-
2026 WATER USE EFFICIENCY PROGRAM
WHEREAS, the City of Auburn operates a municipal water utility and provides
drinking water to its utility customers; and
WHEREAS, the City of Auburn is required to establish water use efficiency goals
in accordance with WAC 246-290-830; and
WHEREAS, the City has developed a Water Use Efficiency Program for the period
2021-2026;
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUBURN,
WASHINGTON, HEREBY RESOLVES as follows:
Section 1. The City of Auburn Water Use Efficiency Program is adopted and
approved as set forth in Exhibit "A" attached and incorporated by reference.
Section 2. The Mayor is authorized to submit to the Washington State
Department of Health the Auburn 2021-2026 Water Use Efficiency Program for the
agency's review and approval.
Section 3. The Mayor is authorized to implement such administrative
procedures as may be necessary to carry out the directives of this legislation.
Resolution No. 5603
July 13, 2021
Page 1
Section 4. This Resolution shall be in full force and effect upon passage and
signatures hereon.
DATED and SIGNED this ,day of 2021.
CITY OF AUBURN
4 A .
ANCY US
MAYOR
ATTEST:
t
Shawn ampbell,
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Kendra Comeau,
City Attorney
Resolution No. 5603
July 13, 2021
Page 2
Exhibit A
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WATER USE EFFICIENCY
As populations continue to climb, demand for limited water supplies is steadily increasing in
the Pacific Northwest. Efficient water use is critical for water systems to support growth in
their communities and support the environment and recreation. The efficient use of water
helps ensure reliable water supplies are available for the City of Auburn (City)well into the
future. It is important to the City to not only conserve water, which reduces use, but also
promote efficient use, which both conserves water and reduces wasteful uses. The purpose
of this document is to provide an analysis of the City's historic water conservation program
and to evaluate the existing and proposed conservation and water use efficiency measures.
This document is formatted into two sections. The first section analyzes the previous
conservation programs by examining how it was formed, it's program and goals, and
analyzes the savings. The second section presents the City's new 2021 Water Use
Efficiency (WUE) Program, and includes the new requirements, measures, and demand
savings anticipated from the program.
1 PRIOR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS
1.1 History
The first formal water conservation program was developed by the City in 1995, one year
after the Washington Department of Health (DOH)jointly published conservation guidelines,
as described below. The City's program included several conservation activities such as
school outreach, program promotion, leak detection, meter repair/replacement, and
conservation pricing. The City enhanced the program in 2001, 2009, and in 2015. The 2015
program will provide the basis of the historical review in this chapter.
The City's 2021 WUE Program follows DOH's 2017 Water Use Efficiency Guidebook, while
building off previous plans. Therefore, it is worth noting that in preparing previous plans the
City reviewed the 1990 South King County Coordinated Water System Plan (CWSP), and
Washington Department of Ecology's 1994 Conservation Planning Requirements (CPR) -
Guidelines and Requirements for Public Water Systems Regarding Water Use Reporting,
Demand Forecasting Methodology, and Conservation Programs, and the Water
Conservation Bibliography for Public Water Systems by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
1.2 Regulatory Requirements
The Washington Water Utilities Council, DOH, and Department of Ecology jointly developed
the CPR. Interim guidelines were first established in 1990, and subsequently finalized and
approved in 1994. The DOH published the CPR in 1994, which was the basis of the City's
1995 and 2001 conservation programs.
July 2021 —DRAFT 1
WATER USE EFFICIENCY
As populations continue to climb, demand for limited water supplies is steadily increasing in
the Pacific Northwest. Efficient water use is critical for water systems to support growth in
their communities and support the environment and recreation. The efficient use of water
helps ensure reliable water supplies are available for the City of Auburn (City)well into the
future. It is important to the City to not only conserve water, which reduces use, but also
promote efficient use, which both conserves water and reduces wasteful uses. The purpose
of this document is to provide an analysis of the City's historic water conservation program
and to evaluate the existing and proposed conservation and water use efficiency measures.
This document is formatted into two sections. The first section analyzes the previous
conservation programs by examining how it was formed, it's program and goals, and
analyzes the savings. The second section presents the City's new 2021 Water Use
Efficiency (WUE) Program, and includes the new requirements, measures, and demand
savings anticipated from the program.
1 PRIOR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS
1.1 History
The first formal water conservation program was developed by the City in 1995, one year
after the Washington Department of Health (DOH)jointly published conservation guidelines,
as described below. The City's program included several conservation activities such as
school outreach, program promotion, leak detection, meter repair/replacement, and
conservation pricing. The City enhanced the program in 2001, 2009, and in 2015. The 2015
program will provide the basis of the historical review in this chapter.
The City's 2021 WUE Program follows DOH's 2017 Water Use Efficiency Guidebook, while
building off previous plans. Therefore, it is worth noting that in preparing previous plans the
City reviewed the 1990 South King County Coordinated Water System Plan (CWSP), and
Washington Department of Ecology's 1994 Conservation Planning Requirements(CPR) -
Guidelines and Requirements for Public Water Systems Regarding Water Use Reporting,
Demand Forecasting Methodology, and Conservation Programs, and the Water
Conservation Bibliography for Public Water Systems by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
1.2 Regulatory Requirements
The Washington Water Utilities Council, DOH, and Department of Ecology jointly developed
the CPR. Interim guidelines were first established in 1990, and subsequently finalized and
approved in 1994. The DOH published the CPR in 1994, which was the basis of the City's
1995 and 2001 conservation programs.
July 2021 —DRAFT 1
In 2003, the Washington State Legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill
1338, better known as the Municipal Water Law, to address the increasing demand on our
state's water resources. The law established that all municipal water suppliers must use
water more efficiently in exchange for water rights certainty and flexibility to help water
municipal suppliers meet future demand. The Legislature directed the DOH to adopt an
enforceable WUE Program, which became effective on January 22, 2007. The WUE
Program replaced the CPR, and emphasizes the importance of measuring water usage and
evaluating the effectiveness of the water supplier's WUE Program.
1.3 Previous Program Goals and Historical Water Usage
The City's 2015-2020 WUE Program was a continuation of the 2009-2014 Program, with
specific enhancements to the program to comply with WUE regulations and create an
emphasis on efficient water usage rather than only conservation. The program goals were
set per the WAC 246-290-830(4)(a)through a public process and posted to the City's
website in October 2014. The goals for the 2015-2020 Program targeted a 1 percent
reduction per year in Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) values. The City also wanted to
raise the visibility and performance of the Conservation Program by becoming a community
leader in water conservation through example and public education. As part of that
leadership, the City supported and participated in applicable regional plans in order to
maintain a reliable and adequate supply of water for the region.
In 2013, the planning ERU value was 195 gpd per ERU, based on the 75th percentile of the
previous six years of data. The 2020 (current) planning ERU value is 179 gpd per ERU,
which was also based on the 75th percentile of the previous seven years of data. This
equates to a 1.1 percent annual decrease in the planning ERU value.
The annual water use per Single Family account from 2014 through 2020 used to calculate
the planning ERU value is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Historical Annual Water Use Per Account(gpd/account)
Year Single Family/Duplex
2014 174
2015 179
2016 170
2017 i 176
2018 ! 193
....................._..........._................................. _..._...._._...._..........._....................................................._._....._...... ... ................................................................................__.............._......._;
2019 169
2020 179
Average 177
75th percentile 179
ERUs per Account 1.0
July 2021 —DRAFT 2
Seasonal water use can have a huge impact on the system's ability to deliver water during
peak demands'. The winter months generally show a steady monthly usage, while summer
months typically show an increase, peak, and decrease in water usage. Historically, single-
family residential customer class has produced-a large peak in the summer month's. This
peaking is quantified in the MDD to ADD peaking factor presented in Table 2. The 75th
percentile of the MDD to ADD peaking factor for the period between 2012 and 2020 is 1.85,
which is slightly above the previous plan of 1.82. The City would like to decrease peak use
and has included it as a new goal in the 2021-2025 WUE Program.
Table 2 Historical Annual ADD, MDD, Peak Day and Peaking Factor
Average . Maximum Date of Max Day/
Annual Day Day Maximum Avg Day
Production Demand Demand Day Peaking
Year (MG/year)..... _._._.....(mg d)................._....-..................(mJd)....................._I.........._..._Demand Factor
2012 2,728 7.64 I 12.08 8/16/2012 1.58
.......................2013......................_........................2,710......... ........,_........................7.43..................._...'......._......-._12.078/21/2013........._....................1.62.........................
.........................201...............................................................,.......................................................................7.....4................................................................2......0....._.......................,.............8/21/201.........................................................6.........................._.....
2014 2,764 7.30 12.97 1 8/6/2014 1.78
2015 2,763 7.58 13.16 I 6/16/2015 1.74
2016 2,871 7.85 14.53 1 8/16/2016 1.85
2017 2,484 6.8012.54 7/26/2017 1.84
......._.._._.._.....201...82,458 6.73
_..__......._......13.61........................1.............7/11/2018
......_.._.-...-....2.02.............._...........
2019 2,392 6.55 11.29 8/1/2019 1.72
2020 2,291 6.26 13.628/27/2020 2.18
Average 2,607 7.13 12.87 1.82
75th 2,763 I 7.58 13.61 1.85
Percentile
1.4 Historical Distribution System Leakage
Distribution system leakage (DSL) is a significant element of the WUE requirements. It is
calculated as the difference between the total amount of water produced and the sum of
water sold and authorized unmetered water usage. It may include inaccurate master and
service connection meters, unaccounted-for non-revenue water use, pipeline leakage, and
unauthorized use. DSL does not include authorized water usage such as water used for fire
protection, flushing, construction, and other maintenance and operations practices.
However, to be credited, this must be accounted for by metering or by estimating water use
with credible means.All water that is not authorized is considered distribution system
leakage. The DOH requires the 3-year average DSL to be under 10 percent to minimize
water waste. The historical 3-year rolling average DSL ranged between 3.4 percent and 9.7
percent for the period from 2013 to 2020.
July 2021 -DRAFT 3
2 2021-2025 WATER USE EFFICIENCY PROGRAM
The 2021-2025 WUE Program will be a continuation of the City's current WUE Program.
Program measures have been expanded, reflecting the City's increased service population
of over 50,000 people. The program has also been updated to leverage the City's
investments in improved SCADA, leak detection, and Advanced Metering Infrastructure
(AMI). The 2021 Plan complies with regulations as set forth in WAC 246-290-830 and
DOH's 2017 Water Use Efficiency Guidebook. This section summarizes the program's
goals, demand and supply side measures, reclaimed water, and DSL. The projected
demand with the conservation goals, program budget, and cost savings are also presented.
2.1 Program Goals
Per the WAC 246-290-830(4)(a), all water purveyors with 1,000 or more connections were
required to set efficiency goals through a public process. The City has chosen to focus on
implementing voluntary measures to decrease both the average and peak water usage.
The 2021 program has established the following goals:
• Water Use per ERU: Decrease the planning ERU value (gpd/ERU) 1 percent annually
from the current planning ERU value of 179 gpd/ERU, which is the 75th percentile of
7 years of historical data(2014-2020). Revaluate goal when the planning ERU value
reaches less than 172 gpd/ERU.
• MDD/ADD Peaking Factor: Decrease the planning peaking factor from the current
1.85, which is equal to the 75th percentile of 7 years of historical data (2014-2020), to
a planning peaking factor of less than 1.72.
• Distribution System Leakage: Maintain 3-year average DSL under 10 percent to
minimize water waste.
• Customer Support: To provide the service and support necessary to those water
customers expressing a desire to conserve water as a part of their environmental
ethic and as a means of minimizing water bills.
• Regional Support: To support and participate in the South King County CWSP and
other applicable regional plans in order to maintain a reliable and adequate supply of
water for the region.
The WUE Program measures, as summarized below, are designed to help meet these
established goals.
2.2 Program Requirements
The WUE requirements emphasize the importance of measuring water usage and
evaluating the effectiveness of the City's program. There are three fundamental
requirements of a WUE Program that the City follows:
July 2021 —DRAFT 4
• Planning Requirements—Municipal water suppliers are required to:
— Collect data.
— Forecast demand.
— Evaluate WUE measures.
— Calculate DSL.
— Implement a WUE Program to meet their goals.
• Distribution Leakage Standard—Municipal water suppliers are required to meet a
distribution system leakage standard to minimize water loss from their distribution
system.
• Goal setting and performance reporting —Municipal water suppliers are required to
set WUE goals through a public process and report annually to their customers and
DOH.
2.3 Mandatory Measures
The WUE Program includes supply side measures that the City implements to understand
and control leakage including new meters, leak detection surveys, and water audits. Per the
WUE requirements, the following measures shall be continued for the 2021-2025 WUE
program:
• Install production (source) meters.
• Install consumption (service) meters.
• Perform meter calibration.
• Implement a water loss control action plan to control leakage if the 3 year rolling
average exceeds 10 percent.
• Educate customers about water use efficiency practices.
• Establish rates that encourage water demand efficiency. See Chapter 11 of 2015
Comprehensive Water Plan for discussion on water rates.
• Evaluate reclamation opportunities.
2.4 Distribution System Leakage
DSL is a significant element in the City's WUE Program. In the past, distribution leakage
was referred to as "unaccounted-for-water". To limit DSL, the City has ongoing leak
detection, meter calibration, and an active repair and replacement program for water
system infrastructure. Additionally, the City has recently increased its efforts to reduce non-
payment of bills and water theft.
Further, the City has updated its SCADA and implemented AMI during the 2015-2020
period. These investments significantly increase the City's ability to measure DSL both
July 2021 —DRAFT 5
temporally and geographically. The resulting information allows the City to better target its
WUE activities to reduce DSL.
2.4.1 Increasing Effectiveness of the WUE Program with AMI
The City implemented AMI throughout the system during the 2015-2020 program period.
AMI provides a new tool to improve the effectiveness of the WUE Program measures. AMI
provides detailed water use data for each customer that allows the City to`better understand
water use patterns and target WUE Program measures to specific customers. Data is sent
6 times each day and is stored in 15-minute intervals indefinitely. Below is a summary of
how the City uses AMI.
• Run continuous consumption reports daily to identify customer leaks.
• Detect service leaks sooner resulting in reduced costs for Service Replacement
program and Leak Detection program.
• Use meter tamper and other daily alarms to reduce water theft.
• Compare production and customer water use to calculate DSL on a monthly basis.
• Implement a customer portal to provide additional reporting options to educate
customers, such as their peak water use.
2.5 2015-2020 Demand-Side Program Measures
The City has incorporated program measures that target reductions in customer usage,
saving the customers money without reducing the quality of service. Under the WUE
requirements, a program measure may include water efficient devices, actions, business
practices, or policies that promote efficient water use. With 15 measures as part of the 2021
Program, the City exceeds the minimum DOH requirement of 12 measures. WUE
measures can target specific customer classes or a combination of customer classes. The
City's demand-side program measures are summarized below.
1. School Outreach: School programs will continue to be arranged to educate students
on efficient water usage. The City has partnered with Nature Vision to provide
classroom education for grades K through 12. This program provides hands-on
activities to teach water conservation, water supply, groundwater and surface water
protection, and the water cycle. The City will conduct alternative or additional
outreach if requested by schools.
2. Speakers' Bureau: The City will seek speaking opportunities to discuss water use
efficiency with a wide-audience spectrum. Topics could include water efficient
fixtures and appliances, curbing seasonal peak demands, lawn watering practices,
etc.
3. Program Promotion: The City will seek opportunities for public service
announcements for water use efficiency, and submit news articles to local papers
July 2021 —DRAFT 6
and Auburn City Magazine on efficient water usage especially during the spring and
summer months. Additional information is published on the City's website
4. Theme Shows/Fairs: The City hosts an annual Kids Day fair. The fair includes a wide
range of activities for all ages of kids.As part of the fair, the City has fun water
related activities and provides water efficiency brochures and other materials. The
City will conduct outreach at other Theme Shows/Fairs if requested.
5. Water Audits: The City will conduct a water audit upon the request of a customer,
including industrial, commercial, and institutional customers. The audits will review
items such as: recirculation of cooling water, reuse of cooling and process water,
reuse of treated wastewater, efficient landscape irrigation, low water using fixtures,
fixing leaks, and process modifications.
6. Customer Leak Detection: The City identifies potential leaks through investigation of
the water meter upon request of customers. The City's AMI system identifies smaller
leaks and allows the City to notify customers of a potential leak within a couple days
of the leak starting.
7. Bills Showing Consumption History: The City will continue to provide customer bills
showing the previous year's water usage. The City is evaluating AMI customer portal
options that will educate customers on their water use, alert them to leaks in real
time, and identify opportunities to reduce their peak water use to help the City meet
its goal of reducing the MDD:ADD ratio.
8. Water Saving Device Kits: The City will participate in distribution of water use
efficiency kits through education events such as speakers' bureaus, theme shows,
fairs, and through bill insert request forms.
9. WUE Pricing: The City has an inverted block rate structure for single-family
residential customers to encourage WUE. The City will consider WUE in future cost
of service/rate studies. Studies will determine the most appropriate water structures
and rate levels to achieve the City's WUE goals, while generating sufficient revenues
for utility operations. The studies consider uniform rates by class, inverted block
rates, seasonal rates, and excess use rates.
10. Water Efficient Toilet Rebate Program: The City will continue to provide rebates to
customers that replace old toilets with new high-efficiency toilets through their EPA
WaterSense Toilet Rebate program.
11. Low-Flow Shower Heads Giveaways: The City gives away free low-flow shower
heads at the Utility Billing Counter.
12. School Outdoor Water Use Reduction: The City will target schools in an effort to
reduce their outdoor water consumption. Water audits and education on benefits of
replacing inefficient irrigation systems or landscaping (including turf)will be
conducted.
13. City Water Use Reduction: The City will audit the water use of City accounts in an
effort to identify both indoor and outdoor water saving opportunities. The Water Utility
staff will help educate City account holders on WUE; however, no water budget has
been allocated to implement water saving devices at City facilities.
July 2021 —DRAFT 7
14. Landscape Workshops: The City will seek opportunities to educate homeowners on
water saving landscaping.
15. Rainwater Harvesting: The City will evaluate implementation of a rainwater
harvesting (rainwater reclamation) promotion program as a means to reduce
irrigation water usage by commercial, public and residential customers. The City
Stormwater Utility's requirement to use Low Impact Development(LID) measures,
where feasible, strives to keep rainwater on the property, further reducing irrigation
demands.
WUE measures can result in savings in energy and cost, both for the City and its
customers, as described below:
• Reduced water use can result in significant customer energy savings because water
heaters are the second largest energy users in the home. Hot water use can be
reduced almost one-third by cost-effective WUE measures, such as water efficient
fixtures and appliances. Significant energy savings can also occur for industrial
processes requiring water heating and other power uses.
• Efficient landscaping and irrigation techniques save on maintenance costs.
• Reductions in water production decrease the energy costs incurred to treat and
distribute water and to collect and treat wastewater. Chemical costs are also reduced
in water and wastewater operations.
• Actions that result in water production cost savings include:
— Identification of non-revenue water could result in recovery of unbilled revenue
from inaccurate meters and reduced unauthorized water usage (theft).
— Leak detection helps prevent major main breaks, which could result in
significant repair costs as well as lost water for sale.
— Leak detection reduces the City's liability by preventing potential property
damage.
— Repair and/or replacement of service and source meters allows the City to
recover unbilled water revenues.
2.6 Reclaimed Water
According to WAC 246-290-100 and the WUE requirements, water systems with over 1,000
connections must collect and evaluate information on reclaimed water opportunities. The
City is committed to wastewater reuse and rainwater reclamation. The City monitors
opportunities for use of King County's reclaimed water through the City's involvement in the
Metropolitan Water Pollution Abatement and Advisory Committee (MWPAAC) and Regional
Water Quality Committee. Additionally, the City has completed the King County Water
Reclamation Evaluation Checklist (see Appendix J in the 2015 Comprehensive Water
Plan). Currently, there are no reclaimed water users in the City. The City considers the
most likely users of reclaimed water to be the irrigation customer class. Total irrigation use
July 2021 —DRAFT 8
just from dedicated irrigation meters for 2020 was 0.40 million gallons per day. Irrigation
from residential customers was significantly more. The City has also identified that it may
be possible for three large users to use reclaimed water(Boeing, Emerald Downs, and
Supermall/Walmart); however, these users have not confirmed an interest in using
reclaimed water and there is not currently a reclaimed water source in the area.
The City will implement reclaimed water as a conservation measure and include this
savings in the demand projections when specific opportunities arise. The City, in
conjunction with King County, may develop projects or consider participation in water reuse
projects and programs developed by adjacent jurisdictions and others as appropriate. The
efforts may include demonstration or pilot projects developed in accordance with applicable
federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
2.7 Budget
The City has established a budget for outside expenditures for applicable program
measures from 2021-2025, shown in Table 3. Program Measure budgets coincide with the
biannual budget. Budgets increase by three to four percent on average over the period.
Table 3 2021-2025 Budget for Each Program Measure
Measure 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
1.School Outreach $20,000 $20,000 $22,000 $22,000 $24,000
2.Speakers' Bureau* $1,500 $1,500 $1,550 $1,550 $1,600
3.Program Promotion* $2,000 $2,000 $2,200 $2,200 $2,400
4.Theme Shows/Fairs, 14.Landscape $6,350 $6,350 $6,400 $6,400 $6,450
Workshops
5.Water Audits, 6.Customer Leak Detection, $15,000 $15,000 $16,000 $16,000 $17,000
12.School Outdoor Water Use Reduction,
13.City Water Use Reduction, and
15.Rainwater Harvesting*
7.BiIls Showing Consumption History* $2,000 $2,000 $2,200 $2,200 $2,400
8.Water Saving Device Kits $6,000 $6,000 $6,500 $6,500 $7,000
9.Conservation Pricing* $9,000 $9,000 $9,200 $9,200 $9,400
10.Toilet Rebates and 11.Low-flow Shower $5,000 $5,000 $5,500 $5,500 $6,000
Heads
Totals $66,850 $66,850 $71,550 $71,550 $78,250
*City labor costs only
July 2021 -DRAFT 9
Table 4 shows the City's budget for required WUE measures through the planning period.
Table 4 2021-2025 Budget for System Required WUE Measures
Measure 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Leak Detection &Repair $8,000 $8,000 $8,500 $8,500 $9,000
Large Meter $20,000 $20,000 $22,500 $22,500 $25,000
Test/Repair/Replace
Service Line and Meter $150,000 $150,000 $175,000 $175,000 $200,000
Replacement*
Totals $178,000 $178,000 $206,000 $206,000 $234,000
*primarily City labor costs
2.8 Public Participation
The City publishes its Water Use Efficiency Annual Performance Report on the Water Utility
webpage and summarizes it in the Annual Water Quality Report. The report, which is also
submitted to DOH, provides the City's DSL, date of most recent public forum, WUE goals,
description of progress in reaching goals, and additional information on WUE efforts. The
City website provides the last three years of Efficiency Reports allowing customers to
compare performance between several years. The City's website also prominently displays
its Conservation Promotions, including frequently asked questions and rebate forms, that
are also available at the Utility Billing counter.
The City has conducted a public process to establish its 2021-2025 WUE Program
Effectiveness goals, which are outlined in the next section. A public meeting will be held on
August 2, 2021 at 7:00 PM. Public comments were incorporated into the WUE goals, and
are in the Appendix.
2.9 2015-2020 WUE Program Effectiveness
The City's water use, both on average and peak demand days, has declined. An aggressive
WUE Program is likely a major reason for this decline; however, it is difficult to estimate the
actual water savings directly resulting from the City's WUE Program because the measures
are not directly quantifiable. Measures such as rebates for high-efficiency toilets and low-
flow showerheads, do have a direct water savings per device, but the water savings from
installation of water saving devices without requests for rebates is impossible to measure.
The impacts on customer water use as a result of public education, which is the main focus
of the City's WUE Program, is challenging to measure, as the response of each participant
varies greatly.
2.9.1 Future Methods for Measuring Program Effectiveness
The existing program effectiveness was evaluated using system-wide historical water use
data. Future program effectiveness may measure the effectiveness of the City's WUE
July 2021 —DRAFT 10
Program based on targeted public education programs to customers in a particular area.
This area could be limited to a particular pressure zone, group of neighborhoods, etc., but
should be an area for which the City can track water use before and after participation in
WUE activities or events. Winter months would provide an estimate on indoor water use,
since outdoor water uses, such as irrigation, are kept to a minimum during the winter.
Summer months could provide an estimate on total indoor and outdoor water use.
The first step would be to establish a baseline from historical information. The second step
would be to evaluate the resulting water use after promoting WUE through targeted
activities and events to customers in the defined area. AMI wouldprovide additional
capabilities to more easily perform these studies. The water use would be tracked for an
additional year to identify seasonal trends. Some consideration would need to be given to
variations in weather and economic conditions. Another method would be to perform the
same before/after water use analysis for WUE Program participants who volunteer and
provide their address. The resulting information would be valuable for the City to correlate
its WUE Program efforts with direct water savings for its customers.
2.9.2 Cost Savings
The WUE Program primarily provides cost savings in two ways. Reducing demand may
reduce or delay capital projects for additional supply and expanded distribution
infrastructure. Additionally, reducing DSL can provide additional revenue, as well as
increase the efficiency of supplying existing water uses.
The City has completed a cost analysis of their proposed WUE Program using historical
data and projected annual water savings. The City has exceeded its WUE Program goal of
five percent water use reduction from 2014 through 2020; the actual reduction was nine
percent. However, significant portions of the water use savings may be attributed to the
factors other than the WUE Program, such as the economy. To avoid over-estimating cost
savings, it was assumed that the WUE Program only achieved its goal of five percent,
rather than the 9 percent reduction; this corresponds to savings of 0.4 mgd of ADD from
2014 to 2020.
The City will budget approximately$244,850.00 for the WUE Program in 2021. This budget
includes both the WUE Program measures ($66,850.00), and the required measures,
($178,000.00). This annual expenditure is budgeted and expended through the City's
operation and maintenance budget. Based on the projected 2021 budget and the estimated
annual water savings of 0.06 mgd, projected unit cost of water from the City's program for
2021 is estimated to be $0.0112 per gallon on average. It is important to consider the
majority of the WUE budget is for service line and meter replacements, which is a key Utility
business practice to maintain accurate billing and payment. Without these costs, the
estimated cost for each gallon of water saved by the WUE Program is only$0.0031 per
gallon on average. Additionally, WUE plays an important role in reducing the need for new
supplies and delaying costly distribution system upgrades.
July 2021 —DRAFT 11
, 2.10 Projected Water Demand
The WUE Program is only applicable to retail customers. Wholesale customer demand is
not included in projections. The projected water demand for the Retail Water Service Area
with and without WUE for the ADD and the MDD are presented in Table 5. Demands are
presented for the 15-year planning period, as well as the Ultimate demand. The planning
ERU value of 172 gpd/ERU is expected to be achieved in 2025 based on an annual one
percent decrease. No further reductions in demand are projected beyond 2025. Figure 1 is
a graphical representation of the data in Table 5.
Table 5 Retail ADD &MDD with and without WUE
Demand 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2035 Ultimate
ADD w/o 6.35 6.67 7.00 7.35 7.72 7.84 9.15 11.65
WUE
ADD w/WUE 6.26 6.53 6.79 7.06 7.33 7.37 8.07 10.26
Savings 0.09 0.13 0.21 0.29 0.38 0.47 1.08 1.39
% Savings 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 12% 12%
MDD w/o 13.62 13.96 14.31 14.67 15.03 15.32 16.66 21.20
WUE
MDD w/WUE 12.80 12.98 13.16 13.35 13.53 13.63 13.88 17.67
Savings 0.82 0.98 1.14 1.32 1.50 1.69 2.78 3.53
% Savings 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% 17% 17%
July 2021 - DRAFT 12
Figure a Demand Reductions from Water Use Efficiency Program
18.00
26.00
3 _
52.00
.io.00
E 8.00,
6.00 nm...
4,00 - - l
2 0
0,00
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2035
Year
ADD w/o WUE. ADD w/WUE *-~° MDD Wkz WUE MDD w/WUE
As shown in the table, WUE measures are projected to result in an average day reduction
in retail demand of 1.08 mgd by 2035, representing a reduction of approximately 12
percent. A reduction of 0.47 mgd (6percent) is projected by 2025. As shown in the table,
WUE measures are projected to result in a reduction in retail MDD of 1.69 mgd (11 percent)
by 2025, and approximately 2.78 mgd (17 percent) by the year 2035.
2.11 Summary of Water Use Efficiency Program
The City's WUE Program provides for efficient water use and supports continued growth.
This program fulfills all the necessary requirements of DOH. The selected program
measures will allow the City to meet its WUE goals, resulting in decreased water demand.
Measures are interrelated and will help the City achieve its goals to both reduce average
water use and peak water use per customer. Public education measures (showing water
use in bills, workshops, school outreach, fairs/trade shows, etc.) will continue to be a main
focus of the WUE Program to increase customer awareness and knowledge of WUE
opportunities. Public education is needed to support the City's other WUE measures and to
support reductions in both average and peak water use. Continued appliance rebates and
July 2021 —DRAFT 13
shower head give-away help customers implement what is learned in the public education
campaign. With the implementation of AMI, it is expected that the City and customers will
be able to identify substantially more water loss reduction opportunities than previously
possible. Therefore, customer and City leak detection and water audits may have a
prominent role in the 2021-2025 WUE Program. The increased water loss reduction
activities are expected to support reducing average water use. The program will also
continue to provide financial disincentives for excessive water use through metering and
WUE pricing. This aspect of the program is likely to help reduce peak water usage further.
These measures will result in the City being able to achieve its WUE goals, which results in
reduced demand.
In conclusion, the City will maintain the target water use efficiency goal of one percent
reduction per year in the planning ERU value from 179 gpd per ERU to 172 gpd per ERU
by 2025. Additionally, it is the City's goal to reduce the MDD/ADD peaking factor from 1.85
to 1.72. The goals will be reached through implementation of the proposed program
measures.
July 2021 —DRAFT 14