Last week was the EPA's Fix a Leak Week, established to highlight the significant savings that can be achieved by addressing leaking water pipes and fixtures. Promoting the agency's WaterSense program, municipalities and private companies across the country participated in activities ranging from educating consumers to actually fixing leaks while bringing attention to the very serious issues associated with water leakage.
The EPA estimates that 1 trillion gallons of water are wasted annually in the United States. These gallons are lost from leaking in-home or in-business pipes and fixtures, or from the aging infrastructure in place to deliver water to our homes and businesses and remove wastewater from them. Efforts currently under consideration by Congress can help us address some of our nationwide infrastructure woes, but the more personal connection to consumers was the focus of activities across the country last week.
Through a contest of WaterSense partners, the EPA selected Dallas Water Utilities as the Fix a Leak Week project to showcase as an example of what can be done to save and conserve water. Supporting the "Great Dallas Fix a Leak Roundup," the EPA helped to promote a city program that offers assistance to low-income residential customers with seemingly minor plumbing problems that may be causing major water waste and higher water bills. Throughout the week, the EPA, the City of Dallas, local plumbers, a plumbing manufacturer, and other local organizations worked to address all of the approximately 100 households on the program's waiting list, making repairs and installing high efficiency toilets, showerheads and aerators to help keep water bills down.
Of course, there were many other activities undertaken by public and private water providers and countless others that promoted Fix a Leak Week across the country. Pennsylvania American Water, for example, worked with a local plumber and held a live demonstration at the Ronald McDonald House in Scranton, raising awareness of common household leaks, providing water conservation tips, and installing water-saving plumbing fixtures in the 11 bathrooms at the charitable "home away from home" for families of seriously ill children in local hospitals.
In Delaware, Artesian Resources partnered with The Home Depot to provide home water audit kits, leak detector tablets and information on the WaterSense program, encouraging consumers to identify and repair leaks and to consider more efficient fixtures for their homes.
Aquarion Water Company sponsored a writing contest for high school students in Bridgeport, Connecticut on the topic of "What would I do to protect our water supply." Contest winners will receive a $500 US savings bond.
Missouri American Water worked with Angels' Arms, an organization supporting foster children, to complete a bathroom makeover at the St. Louis-area home, demonstrating how simple repairs and WaterSense fixtures can save water and money. Missouri American donated materials that are being used by volunteers to create a more functional, water efficient home for the nine children and their house parents.
Like a lot of our environmental concerns, we as individuals can contribute greatly to the conservation and preservation of our water resources, and do so while saving ourselves a few bucks along the way. Tips on how we can all work year-round to control leaks and wasted water can be found here.
