Water Conservation

· Drought/ Water Restrictions:

Mandatory outdoor water restrictions issued by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) are in effect in the City of Atlanta until further notice.

Outdoor water use is prohibited by all residential and commercial water users except as defined below:

No outdoor watering is permitted between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. seven days a week.

If your home or business has an even-numbered street address, you may water on even-numbered calendar days except from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

If your home or business has an odd-numbered street address, you may water on odd-numbered calendar days except from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

This applies to residential, commercial, governmental and institutional outdoor water users.

These restrictions do not apply to outdoor water use which is necessary for the daily conduct of essential business activities.

As authorized by City of Atlanta Code Section 154-73, a warning will be issued as the first step in enforcing the water use restrictions. For subsequent violations, water service will be subject to termination and there will be a surcharge of up to $1,000.00 to restore water service

Water Wise Xeriscape Program

Care & Conserve Program

The City of Atlanta Bureau of Water recognizes that there are many citizens who simply cannot afford to pay for water . . . an element, which is most essential to life. Through an innovative program we can assist them, but only with your help and financial support.

The Care and Conserve Fund is established to assist those low-income families and individuals who are experiencing hardships and having difficulty paying their water and sewer bills. It is also designed to provide assistance with plumbing problems and with the installation of water efficiency devices. The Care and Conserve Fund is maintained separately from Water and Sewer Revenue Funds and it is funded through voluntary customer contributions, corporate donations and grant monies. The fund is administered for the City by Southeast Energy Assistance, a non-profit corporation.

The Care and Conserve Fund benefits all customers of the Atlanta Bureau of Water by helping to reduce the burden of outstanding debt on the system and by promoting the most efficient use of our water resources.

Customer contributions are the backbone of this program and we urge your generous participation.

Thank for helping us help others with this most critical need.

What is it?

A new mechanism for assisting low-income water customers with their bills. The program will also help them out with plumbing problems that are leading to high water and sewer bills, and it will really help them to save on future bills by installing water saving devices in their homes.

What is the need?

Water and sewer bills are no longer the incidental expenses that they used to be. Water and Sewer rates throughout the country are rising due to the costs of meeting increasingly stringent state and federal environmental regulations. Affordability is a big issue for many low or fixed income individuals and families.

2004 Income Guidelines

Family Size

Annual Income

Monthly Income

1

$13,965

$1,122

2

$18,735

$1,515

3

$23,505

$1,907

4

$28,275

$2,250

5

$33,045

$2,692

6

$37,815

$3,085

7

$42,585

$3,477

8

$47,355

$3,870

Each Additional Member

$4,770

$392

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Why conserve?

There are many reasons both economic and environmental for conserving natural resources. First of all, water is a very finite resource, and there is not enough to waste. There are costs involved in withdrawing water from the Chattahoochee River, treating water to meet drinking water standards, pumping treated water through the system, reading meters, billing, collections, maintaining miles of water mains and pipes, etc. Reducing your consumption of water directly reduces your water and sewer bill. Cutting back on the amount of water we use also reduces the demand for more capacity in our wastewater treatment facilities.

Why are plumbing repairs included in the program?

Our plumbing system and fixtures must be properly maintained in order to function properly. When something goes wrong, a great deal of water can be lost. This can be very costly as well as wasteful. Many tenants are at the mercy of absentee landlords to make necessary plumbing repairs. When these are not made in a timely manner and they result in high bills, the tenant is still responsible for the bill. Often, low-income customers will continue to pay these unnecessarily high bills because they cannot afford a plumber. They can fall behind in their payments and lose their water service due to the failure of their landlord to carry out their responsibilities.

Who benefits?

Qualifying low-income customers of the Atlanta Bureau of Water will directly benefit. All customers of the Atlanta Bureau of Water will benefit due to the reduced burden of outstanding debt on the system. We will all realize the benefits of reducing water consumption and promoting the most efficient use of our water resources.

How can I contribute?

Make your tax deductible check (or money order) payable to the “Care and Conserve Fund” and send to Southeast Energy Assistance · 214 14th Street · Atlanta, Georgia 30318.

How can I get assistance?

Contact Southeast Energy Assistance for assistance @ 404-885-1878
Visit their website at: www.southeastenergy.org

Waters Sourcebook

The value of clean, safe water for individual, communities, business, and industries cannot be measured. Every living thing depends on water. The economy requires it. Water issues should be everyone’s concern, but most people take water quality and availability for granted. After all, clean safe water is available to most Americans every time they turn on the tap. Water issues do not become a concern until there is a crisis such as a drought or wastewater plant failure. Educating citizens who must make critical water resource decisions in the midst of a crisis rarely results in positive change. Developing awareness, knowledge, and skills for sound water use decisions is very important for children, for they will soon be making water resource management decisions. Properly equipping them to do so is essential to protect water resources.

Water Sourcebook Program

The Water sourcebook educational program is directed specifically toward the in-school population. The program consists of supplemental activity guides targeting kindergarten through high school. Water sourcebooks are available for primary (k-2), elementary (3-5), middle (6-8), and secondary (9-12) levels. Program materials are compatible with existing curriculum standards established by State Boards of Education throughout the United States and teach concepts included in those standards by using water quality information as the content.

The Water Sourcebook-includes sections on , Drinking Water and Wastewater Treatment, Groundwater, Surface Water, and Wetlands, each containing numerous hand-on activities.

For more information www.griffin.peachnet.edu/ water wise council

Water Conservation Plan

The City has established a conservation program that will increase public awareness concerning the finite natural resource of the Chattahoochee River. The City has documented its program in a Conservation Plan that is submitted to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The City’s Conservation Plan contains a detailed description of activities to reduce water loss and unaccounted-for water through enhanced system management programs. These programs include; meter repair/replacement and calibration, leak detection, theft and vandalism prevention, accurate mapping of the water system, flushing programs, SCADA system to control overflows, prevention of unauthorized use of hydrant and fire line, water main replacement, use of in-plant water for filter backwashing, and various capital projects in progress or planned for the future. Other programs include water rate structure, second meters for landscape irrigation, and a pilot demonstration project using treated wastewater effluent for irrigation of a golf course.

Water Saving Tips

5 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE WATER IN THE KITCHEN AND LAUNDRY.

1. Use your automatic washing machine only for full loads.
Your automatic washer uses 30 to 35 gallons a cycle

2. Use your automatic dishwasher for full loads.
Every time you run your dishwasher, you use about 25 gallons of water.

3. If you wash by hand don’t leave the water running while you rinse.
If you have two sinks, fill one with rinse water. If you have one sink, first gather all your washed dishes in quickly with a spray device or pan of water.

4. Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator.
This puts a stop to the wasteful practice of running tap water to cool it before drinking.

5. Don’t let the faucet run while you clean fruit or vegetables.
Rinse your vegetables, instead, in a bowl or sinkful of clean water.

7 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE WATER IN THE BATHROOM

1. Check your toilet for leaks. Put a few drops of food coloring in your toilet tank. If, without flushing, the coloring begins to appear in the bowl, you have a leak that may be wasting more than 100 gallons of water a day.

2. Stop using your toilet as ashtray or wastebasket.
Every cigarette butt or tissue you flush away also flushes away five to seven gallons of water.

3. Take shorter showers. A typical shower uses five to ten gallons of water a minute. Limit your shower to the time it takes to soap up, wash down and rinse off.

4. Turn off the water while shaving.
Fill the bottom of the sink with a few inches of warm water in which to rinse your razor.

5. Turn off the water brushing teeth. Your use as much as three gallons of water if you leave the water running while brushing your teeth.

6. Install water-saving showerheads or flow restrictors. Your hardware or plumbing supply store stocks inexpensive, easy to install shower heads or flow restrictors that will cut your shower flow to about three gallons a minute instead of five to ten.

7. Check faucets and pipes for leaks. Even a small drip can waste 50 or more gallons of water a day, seven days a week. An inexpensive washer is usually enough to stop them.

8 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE WATER OUTSIDE.

1. Water you lawn only when it needs it. Watering on a regular schedule doesn’t allow for spell or rainfall which reduce the need for watering. Step on the grass. If it spring back up when you remove your foot, it doesn’t need water.

2. Deep soak lawn. When you do water your lawn, water it long enough for water to seep down to the roots where it is needed. A light sprinkling that sits on the surface will simply evaporate and be wasted.

3. Water during the cool parts of the day. Watering during the early morning or evening prevents loss of water due to evaporation and wind.

4. Don’t water the gutter. Position your sprinkler so water lands on the lawn or garden, not on paved areas. Also avoid watering on windy days.

5. Plant a layer of mulch around tree and plants. Mulch slows the evaporation of moisture.

6. Use a broom to clean driveways, sidewalks and steps.
Using a hose wastes hundreds of gallons water.

7. Don’t run the house while washing your car. Soap down your care from a pail of soapy water. Use a house, equipped with a positive shut off nozzle to rinse it off.

8. Check for leaks in pipes, hoses, faucets and couplings. Leaks outside the house can be extremely wasteful, especially when they occur in your main water line or irrigation system. To check for hidden leaks in your pipes, shut off all faucets and taps around the house for 15 minutes. If the water meter reading advances during that time, you have a leak.