News

November 7, 2016 – New Haven, Conn. – With persistent dry weather and continued drought conditions, the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) is asking all of its customers to continue to conserve water and to step-up their voluntary measures to 15%. On October 11, the company requested that all RWA customers reduce their water use by 10%.

“We are joining Governor Malloy’s call to conserve water by 15% in response to the recent decision made by the Connecticut Interagency Drought Workgroup to issue the state’s first-ever Drought Watch,” said Regional Water Authority Vice President of Asset Management, Ted Norris. “This reduction will continue to enable the RWA to meet the public water supply needs for customers, fire protection, and protect the environment.”

The RWA continues to closely monitor its water supplies. At the end of October, the RWA’s reservoirs were at approximately 53% of their capacity, which is less than the long-term average of 66% for October.

“Connecticut’s water supply availability varies by community,” Norris added. “While supplies in RWA reservoirs are lower than normal, we also have groundwater sources that provide some operational flexibility in certain areas of our system.”

A typical RWA residential household uses approximately 205 gallons of water per day. Assuming there are 4 people living in the household, a 15% household reduction would be 7 to 8 gallons per person, per day. These savings can make a big difference and can be achieved by simply eliminating non-essential water use. Here are some things customers can do:

• Shower to save water. A bath typically uses up to 70 gallons of water, whereas a five-minute shower will use only 10-25 gallons depending on the efficiency of your showerhead.
• Keep drinking water in the refrigerator instead of letting the faucet run until cool. A running faucet can use about two gallons of water per minute.
• Turn off the faucet while you brush your teeth and you can save as much as four gallons of water. If you brush your teeth in the morning and at night, that adds up to saving 200 gallons of water a month. The same is true when you wash your hands and shave.
• Scrape rather than rinse dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. The average dishwasher uses six gallons of water per cycle; more efficient dishwashers use four gallons per cycle. A running faucet uses about two gallons per minute.
• Wash only full loads of clothes. Older top-loading machines use 40 gallons of water to wash a full load. Today’s newer standard models use 27 gallons, and more efficient ENERGY STAR washers use 14 gallons per wash.
• Pick the appropriate water level setting – often small, medium, large – for the load, if that’s how your machine works. Front-loaders and most high-efficiency top loaders have auto-load sensing, and a few of the latest agitator top-loaders have it, too.
• Repair dripping faucets and showers. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can expect to waste 27,000 gallons of water per year.

The RWA provided a water production update to show the results of its voluntary conservation program launched on October 11, 2016 compared to a five-year average production of water. “The RWA’s customers have already demonstrated that water use can be reduced when you commit to conservation,” Norris said. “We thank our customers who have committed to lowering their water use, but we need to do more to ensure we will continue to have enough water for all our customers’ needs should the drought continue.”

The RWA will continue to monitor water demands and will modify its request for water conservation measures accordingly. Additional suggestions on how to save water are available by visiting www.rwater.com. Customers without internet access can call 203-562-4020.

About the Regional Water Authority
The South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) provides high-quality water and services to almost 430,000 people in 15 cities and towns throughout Greater New Haven. Our more than 260 employees work toward our vision of being an innovative water utility that sustains life, strengthens communities and protects resources for future generations. For more information on the Regional Water Authority, please visit www.rwater.com.

Contact:
Kate Powell, kpowell@rwater.com, 2034012738