Achieving Water Quality and Conservation Goals with the Help of 311 CRM Software from CivicPlus®

Facts:

• The average family can waste 180 gallons per week, or 9,400 gallons of water annually, from household leaks. That’s equivalent to the amount of water needed to wash more than 300 loads of laundry.
• Household leaks can waste approximately nearly 900 billion gallons of water annually nationwide. That’s equal to the annual household water use of nearly 11 million homes.
• Running the dishwasher only when it’s full can eliminate one load of dishes per week and save the average family nearly 320 gallons of water annually.
• Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth can save 8 gallons of water per day and, while shaving, can save 10 gallons of water per shave. Assuming you brush your teeth twice daily and shave 5 times per week, you could save nearly 5,700 gallons per year.
• Letting your faucet run for five minutes while washing dishes can waste 10 gallons of water and uses enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 18 hours.
• Outdoor water use accounts for more than 30 percent of total household water use, on average, but can be as much as 60 percent of total household water use in arid regions.
• If the average sized lawn in the United States is watered for 20 minutes every day for 7 days, it’s like running the shower constantly for 4 days or taking more than 800 showers. That’s equivalent to the amount of water needed for the average family to take 1 year’s worth of showers.
• As much as 50 percent of the water we use outdoors is lost due to wind, evaporation, and runoff caused by inefficient irrigation methods and systems. A household with an automatic landscape irrigation system that isn’t properly maintained and operated can waste up to 25,000 gallons of water annually.
• When hiring a professional to install or audit your landscape irrigation system, be sure he or she is certified by a WaterSense labeled irrigation program. If the system is well managed, a household’s irrigation water use can be reduced by 15 percent, or nearly 7,600 gallons of water, annually. That’s the amount of water needed to take 480 showers.

Another Fact: Water conservation is a national priority that falls partly on public works leaders in our communities to help address it locally. We were pleased to sit down with three of our #CPFamily members to learn what systems and technologies they are implementing to address their unique water conservation needs. Their stories inspire our continued innovation for our citizen relationship management software and SeeClickFix resident app—tools communities use as part of their conservation strategies.

Foster City, CA – How the City Addressed a Water Shortage Emergency with Transparency and Education

Due to extended drought conditions, on June 6, 2022, the Estero Municipal Improvement District declared a water shortage emergency for Foster City, CA. This is one of the latest examples of why water conservation is being discussed and addressed with more urgency as droughts become more frequent, last longer, and natural water resources continue to dwindle in certain regions. As a result, the City knew it might need to put in place measures to conserve water in the community. Still, one challenge in enforcing restrictions is having an effective way to identify, report, track, and respond to issues or violations. Foster City had been through this before and saw an opportunity to leverage its CivicPlus Citizen Relationship Management (CRM) system and integrated SeeClickFix resident app, which it has branded “Foster City Access,” to help identify and address issues on a micro-level.

According to Rob Lasky, Foster City IT Manager, “Water conservation is one of those things that will be highly visible for the foreseeable future. If the state says to cut consumption by a certain percentage, we have to figure out how to do that. The City can do some things, but it’s up to the residents to do the lion’s share of the work. Where we can make a difference is awareness and education, we can say here’s a bunch of tools and then help you use them. The other big facet of what we can impact is transparency; we’ve been trying to get more granular information to the water users so they can track things like hourly consumption. That’s been eye-opening for some people.”

Lasky sees the benefits of clear, accessible two-way communication and notes that the open dialogue between residents and local government is crucial. CivicPlus helped to facilitate such engagements.

“It’s important to let people see what’s going on and have them in on the conversation as their ticket is being worked on,” said Lasky. “It’s great to be able to allow them to post from their phone wherever they are at the time. It’s huge to be able to give them something accessible and responsive that they can use on any device rather than having to remember to call the City when they get back to their house and look up the number and do all that. It’s great that we can have people call us and report issues, but we need something that people have in the palm of their hands as they come across the issue. Having that consistent communication back and forth is why [the SeeClickFix app] has definitely become where we’re centering all our resident issues.”

Explore the Foster City Access Solution

Burlington, VT – How the City Reimagined Stormwater Management

Many residents are unaware of or don’t understand the systems, regulations, and fees associated with water, sewer, and stormwater management. It’s even harder for them to know and be aware of their role in upholding water quality in their communities. The City of Burlington, Vermont, knew what was on the line if there was a lack of public understanding, unsafe practices, or unintentional challenges to the City’s efforts to provide clean and safe water to the community.

In 2009, the City of Burlington established a dedicated stormwater management program to address required state and federal stormwater permits. It wasn’t long after that the City implemented the CivicPlus CRM solution and SeeClickFix resident app and quickly saw a significant increase in reporting. As a result, hundreds of issues related to water, drainage, sewer, and stormwater within Burlington became opportunities to give residents positive civic experiences through efficient, effective service. In addition, the solution helped the City expand and accelerate its efforts to maintain and improve water quality in the community.

Read the Full Burlington, VT Case Study

Corona, CA – How the City Conserved 4.4 Billion Gallons of Water with the Help of SeeClickFix 311 CRM

The City of Corona, CA, is another community in a drought-prone region. Its leaders needed to conserve water resources and sought a way to get the public’s buy-in. Tom Moody, General Manager of the City of Corona Department of Water and Power, knew there was only one way to get it done: working with residents.

“I am appreciative of the water conservation efforts of the residents and businesses of Corona and their diligence toward helping the City achieve our water conservation goals,” said Moody. “Together, we can continue to be more water conscious and preserve this precious resource.”

The City saw the potential for resident requests to help with conservation efforts, adopted CivicPlus’ CRM solution and the SeeClickFix resident app, and utilized the following water-related categories:

• Water Conservation Issues (Not in a Park/Parkway)
• Water and Sewer Service Issues (Including Fire Hydrants and Water Lines)
• Storm Drain Maintenance
• Water Quality Issues
• Storm Water Issues
• Water Pressure Issues

Moody and other City officials were correct in their prediction that giving a voice to residents to report issues would be critical to conservation. This straightforward method of reporting allowed residents to be engaged, provided City officials with new information and data to analyze that they might not have otherwise had, and promoted open and informative communications around a precious resource.

Read the Full Corona, CA Case Study

If your community faces water conservation challenges and needs a technology solution to crowdsource water and stormwater maintenance repair needs from the public, talk to us about the capabilities of our SeeClickFix Citizen Relationship Management solution.