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The Florida Rural Water Association (FRWA) works cooperatively with USEPA, the Department of Environmental Protection and the State’s five (5) water management districts, in providing technical assistance to small and medium water wastewater systems. This technical assistance is provided by direct contacts with its 1225 member systems that include 9.7 million customers. FRWA assistance includes board training and providing technical advise to system operators and managers in areas that include asset management, environmental compliance, development of water and wastewater rates, and in the efficient operation of water and wastewater facilities. As utility budgets have shrunk due to current economic conditions, utility managers have taken more interest in opportunities available to them for reducing O&M costs. In work with member utilities, FRWA generally finds that cost saving opportunities are directly linked to identifying customer water use patterns, pricing water at its full cost of production and incorporating the benefits of energy reduction into asset management programs. Most recently FRWA partnered with the Southwest Florida Water Management District in performing water system audits on 12 water systems that had extremely high per capita water use. The FRWA work scope included comprehensive meter efficiency evaluations and analysis of the current rate structure for encouraging water conservation. FRWA’s work indicates those opportunities for supply side water conservation is often underemphasized and that significant opportunities for conserving water go undetected. FRWA recommends incorporation of simple water accounting procedures and the adoption of best management water conservation practices. These programs can often be implemented at a very low cost and provide immediate and significant returns in operating cost reductions, enhanced system reliability and improved treatment. Topics covered in this presentation will be: 1.) Benefits to small utilities resulting from effective water conservation practices, 2.) Setting water conservation goals, 3.) Identifying water conservation maturity levels, 4.) Using basic, intermediate and advanced water conservation measures, 5.) and 6.) Incorporating general conservation practices. Results from the “The Water Audit Study” performed for the Southwest Florida Water Management District will be used to demonstrate how these principles can be successfully applied to achieve supply side water conservation benefits. These benefits provide the utility system with the awareness that leads to an integrated supply and demand side approach to water conservation. |