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Water is a precious, limited resource. In the Pacific Northwest, drinking water for our growing population competes with other users that include agriculture, industry, recreation, and maintaining an adequate stream flow for fish.
To ensure a safe and reliable supply of drinking water to meet current and future needs the City of Monroe is working with the Washington Department of Health to implement a water use efficiency program.
The City of Monroe helps prevent potential health and sanitation risks to their customers by effectively planning and implementing water use efficiency (WUE) measures. This means fewer emergencies when water supplies are scarce, especially during summer months when it rains less and user demands are high.
When the Washington State Legislature passed the 2003 Municipal Water Law (MWL) to reform the state’s water laws, it accomplished two things:
Added flexibility in the use of municipal water rights to serve growing communities by eliminating some of the risk of losing those municipal rights to the state.
In exchange for this water right flexibility, the law requires municipalities to use water efficiently.
WUE requirements can be found in WAC 246-290 and in the May 2016 Revised Third Edition of the Guidebook (PDF). To summarize, municipal water suppliers must:
Publicly establish water savings goals for their customers.
Evaluate or implement specific water saving measures to achieve customer-based goals.
Develop a WUE planning program to support the established goals.
Install meters on all customer connections by January 22, 2017.
Achieve a standard of no more than 10% water loss.
Report annually on progress towards achieving these goals.
Using water efficiently helps water systems protect against:
Temporary water service interruptions during peak usage.
Long-term or repeated water disruptions due to limited water supply.
Contamination of the water supply due to leaky pipes.
The WUE requirements also:
Help ensure reliable long-term water supplies.
Promote good stewardship of the state’s water resources.
Ensure efficient operation and management of water systems.
Reduce energy use and save money.
Any Group A community water system that serves at least 15 residential service connections must comply with the Water Use Efficiency Rule, whether publicly or privately owned.
Regional Goal
The City of Monroe has co-adopted a regional goal as part of the group of Everett Water wholesale customers.The regional conservation goal is to reduce the regional demand for water by 1.4 MGD by 2029.
Monroe’s Goal
The City of Monroe has been an instrumental part of contributing to the regional goal by staying under 8.5% leakage for the last 5 years. The goal is to maintain this level through 2025.
Proposed Measures
Water System Leak Detection
Conservation education program developed for 2nd – 12th graders
Indoor and outdoor water conservation kits for single and multi-family homes
Rainwater harvesting for City water-use vehicles
Reclaimed water-use at the City’s WWTP
Tracking and notifying customers of water leaks that are over 2cf/hour
Have Questions or Suggestion? Email John Lande.
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