Denver Water joins EPA in efficiency plan

Agency, feds to promote improved appliances

Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 7, 2007 at midnight

Text size

More Local News

Denver Water will partner with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help promote a national program showcasing efficient water appliances known as Watersense.

This week the giant utility, which serves 1.2 million people, was honored by the EPA, along with the city government, for its work to reduce water use, to upgrade old water fixtures and for its construction of a recycled water plant.

"Denver, Chicago, New York, all of these cities have taken an innovative approach to water," said EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson at a ceremony Monday at Denver's recycled water plant.

This year, Denver Water customers have reduced water use roughly 20 percent from pre-drought levels, according to chief planner Greg Fisher, although that figure continues to fluctuate.

By 2016, the agency hopes to permanently reduce water use by 22 percent from pre-drought levels.

The utility has also implemented a rebate program to encourage people to buy efficient clothes washers and dishwashers and toilets, among other appliances.

And it built a recycled water plant that cleanses wastewater and uses it to cool power plants and to water city parks.

By reusing water in this way, the utility can stretch its fresh water supplies further.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper was also recognized for his work on GreenPrint Denver, an initiative designed to make the city more energy- and water-efficient.

Hickenlooper said replacement of aging fixtures inside city buildings has already saved an estimated 900,000 gallons of water, enough to serve more than four urban households for a year.

"This is a team effort," Hickenlooper said. "Eventually we'll get all of the city's fixtures to be more frugal."

The news comes a year after the EPA launched a national campaign to promote water conservation, touting water-saving toilets and sprinkler systems in much the same way it has pushed energy-efficient light bulbs through its Energy Star program.

Denver Water spokeswoman Trina McGuire-Collier said the utility will likely help promote WaterSense-related appliances as part of its rebate program and may also promote the federal effort through bill inserts to customers.

Online

• For more information on Denver's water conservation programs, visit www.DenverWater.org.

• For more information on the EPA's WaterSense program, visit www.EPA.gov /watersense.

smithj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5474

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News