Create a demand-side pricing program to reduce demands on water and wastewater systems.
Best Practice of this action
Rating Guideline
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Adopt a conservation water rate structure (with 25-cent minimum increments between blocks or normal rates), and/or arrange for water users to see their water use history compared to similar users. Report water efficiency achieved through development review/incentives under BPA 2.5, and report water conservation connection fees under BPA 3.4. |
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Institute a consumption-based fee for sanitary sewer service rather than a flat fee; study potential cost-savings from deferring water supply additions by demand reduction actions; report ratio of 5-yr. average peak day water use to 5-yr. av. day use (should be under 2.6). Report water supply leak % under BPA 20.3. |
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Modify rate structures to target peak-use times and discourage or defer use; report progress toward (Met Council 2040) goal of 90 gal./person/day; create a sustainable water use plan that at least verifies that there is enough water to meet projected needs out 25 years in the metro area and out 10 years in greater MN. |
Resources
- Like the food pyramid, the water conservation hierarchy quickly and visually helps us all focus on first reducing water use, then reusing water, then recycling it. Note that research in MN shows that odd/even watering ordinances, while serving an important peak-shaving function for city wells, do not decrease consumption, but a Monday/Thursday, Tuesday/Friday ordinance does (by cutting allowed days of watering by 33%).
- Shoreview became the first MN city to deploy WaterSmart water-user feedback tools to increase water conservation.
- The Metropolitan Council's Water Conservation Toolbox is a one-stop shop for resources and has extensive tips and resources for water customers and water suppliers, including how to use city water rates to promote water conservation. The MN Dept. of Natural Resources requires water utilities to report water conservation efforts and outcomes via an annual report to MPARS (MN Permitting and Reporting System) and has Benchmarks and Conservation Measures (2007) for water appropriation permits. For water conservation news, send a request to info.dnr@state.mn.us to subscribe to the Community Public Water Suppliers e-newsletter. And see policy ideas at Water Offset Policies for Water-Neutral Community Growth (Alliance for Water Efficiency: 2016).
- The Water Underground: Reframing the Local Groundwater Picture (Freshwater Society: 2016) helps public water suppliers stabilize their supplies so they remain safe, reliable and at lowest long-term cost to ratepayers.
- Guidelines for Water Reuse (US EPA: 2012) covers water reclamation and reuse, planning for future water reuse systems, and information on indirect potable reuse and industrial reuse. Disinfection and treatment technologies, emerging contaminants, and public involvement and acceptance are also discussed.
- WaterSense at Work: Best Management Practices for Commercial and Institutional Facilities is a compilation of water-saving tips, techniques, and fixture recommendations for commercial and institutional sectors, including hospitality, food service, healthcare, laboratory, office buildings, and educational facilities, which collectively use 17% of the water provided by the nation's public water supplies.
- Utilizing a standard market technique, Falcon Heights instituted a consumption-based fee for sanitary sewer service rather than a flat fee and saw an 11% reduction in sewer usage.
- The ultimate city goal is sustainable use of water: maintaining water quality and water withdrawals within the amount provided by the natural world. Sustainable management of water thus depends on assessments, at appropriate geographic/time scales, of precipitation minus evapotranspiration, surface waters, groundwater quantity and recharge, runoff, and water allocations for plant/animal ecosystems and people and businesses. See the Minnesota Water Sustainability Framework (Univ. of MN Water Resources Center: 2011. NOTE: 48 MB file!)
- The MN Dept. of Health provides Source Water Assessments - summaries of the water sources used, drinking water contaminants of concern, and the susceptibility of drinking water sources to contamination - for all Minnesota public water systems.
Order Number
7