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2014 EPA WaterSense Partners of the Year: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, HydroPoint Data Systems, KB Home, and Energy Inspectors Corporation

Release Date: 10/09/2014
Contact Information: Suzanne Skadowski, 415-972-3165, skadowski.suzanne@epa.gov

SAN FRANCISCO – Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, HydroPoint Data Systems, KB Home, and Energy Inspectors Corporation as WaterSense Partners of the Year for their commitment to promoting water efficiency. San Francisco and Sonoma-Marin together saved 447 million gallons of water in 2013, an amount to equivalent to the daily water use of 1.5 million households.

“The severe drought in the West has communities planning for water scarcity in a changing climate,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “By making efficiency and reuse a high priority, our WaterSense partners in California and Nevada are helping build stronger, more resilient water systems to meet the challenges ahead.”

2014 WaterSense Partners of the Year

Excellence in Outreach and Education: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission reached 70 percent of San Francisco households during Fix a Leak Week, by broadcasting multi-lingual messages to “check, twist, and replace” faucets that leak. The utility also led initiatives to reduce demand on drinking water, including its Laundry-to-Landscape program which provides homeowners with greywater training, discounted supplies, and on-site assistance. San Francisco also expanded recycled water projects, including the recent Harding Park project that uses recycled water to irrigate over 160 acres of public golf course greens.

“San Francisco is leading the way in its use of innovative outreach and education programs that help residents and businesses save precious water and money,” said Harlan L. Kelly, Jr., General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

Professional Certifying Organization Partner of Year: Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership certified nearly 200 irrigation professionals as WaterSense Qualified Water Efficient Landscapers in 2013. In addition, it helped install 22 greywater irrigation systems that use water drained from sinks, showers and washing machines for landscaping. The organization also launched the 20-Gallon Challenge featuring incentive prizes such as high-efficiency toilets and clothes washers, rainwater catchment and greywater systems, and custom water-wise landscape design in exchange for a pledge to save 20 gallons per person per day.

"The Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership is not yet four years in existence yet several collaborative efforts have resulted in the partners saving more water than was likely working individually,” said Chris DeGabriele, General Manager of the North Marin Water District, a member of the Partnership. “This award to SMSWP is a real testament to the region's water suppliers working together.”

Manufacturer Partner of the Year: HydroPoint Data Systems in Petaluma, Calif. helped customers sustain their water savings in 2013 with the release of a Water Budget Manager software tool that allows users to see, track and report a landscape’s water consumption and water bills after installing WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers.

Builder Partner of the Year: KB Home in Los Angeles, Calif. won its fourth consecutive WaterSense Builder Partner of the Year award and broke new ground in 2013 with the introduction of its Double ZeroHouse 2.0 concept to increase water efficiency and other resource savings.

Licensed Certification Provider Partner of the Year: Energy Inspectors Corporation in Las Vegas, Nev. inspected 51 WaterSense labeled new homes in 2013 and collaborated with KB Home to educate homeowners about the water- and energy-saving benefits of WaterSense labeled models.

WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by EPA to protect the future of our nation's water supply by offering people a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products and services. WaterSense partners have helped American consumers save 757 billion gallons of water - enough to supply all of the homes in the United States with water for 26 days—since 2006. WaterSense partners combined efforts have resulted in a $14.2 billion reduction in consumer water and energy bills over the past 8 years and a reduction of 37 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

WaterSense Partners of the Year were recognized today during the 2014 WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas.

For more information about the 2014 WaterSense Partners of the Year, including links to award winners in Calif. and Nev., visit: www.epa.gov/watersense