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Water Conservation:In Plain Sight
Central Texas Water Conservation 2014 Symposium
San Marcos, Texas
Austin Water, Water Conservation
Texas Drought • 2011 65% of the state in the exceptional level of drought
• Expecting continued dry conditions and a possible Stage 3 declaration
• Using a Water Conservation Code that was written for short term conditions
• 2007 Stage 3 Code requirements would have a huge economic and environmental impact on the City.
2007 Water Conservation Code
• Stage 3 Regulations:
No outdoor irrigation (except hand-held, one day/week, limited time)
No tree watering
No car washing
No swimming pool filling
No building or sidewalk washing
No variances
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Public Input Strategy• Hire a moderator
• Invite the public
• Don’t have a pre-determined result in mind
• Set the stageo Why o What are your goalso Topics for discussiono Topics not for discussiono Process
• Mix it up
• Ask them their goals and listen to the response
• Ask for feedback and MAKE ADJUSTMENTS!
• Meetings with key stakeholders
• Progress reports
• Opportunity for review
• Stronger conservation measures in earliest stages of drought Year round watering maximum 2/week, Water waste prohibited Commercial irrigation evaluations Universal vehicle wash standards
• Community support• Industry and business support• City Council Support
Our results:
This is the Way we Wash our Cars......
…Our Story
Actions:
1.Contacted the Southwest Car Wash Association and the Association of New Car Dealerships
2.Contacted washing equipment specialists.
3.Made an appointment to visit a car wash.
4.Realized that we had a lot to learn about car washing
At the Carwash
Rising Questions
• Who washes cars? Other vehicles?
• What are we going to regulate?
• Is car washing in drought necessary?
• How much water does a car wash use?
• How do we communicate a need for change to those industries that wash vehicles?
• How do we encourage that industry to cooperate?
• How do we communicate our decisions to the public?
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• Car washes• Car dealerships• Car rentals• Businesses/governments
that manage vehicle fleets (construction service)
• Power washers
• Made a distinction to target the equipment rather than the facility.
• Allowed us to broaden the scope of our regulation
• Gave latitude to the operators
Equipment or Facility
What to Regulate?
IS CAR WASHING NECESSARY?
New Car Dealerships•Single New Car Lot can have a $20,000,000 inventory at any given time•A Customer Satisfaction Survey is built into the receipt of their inventory. Big question: Was the car clean when received?•Bonuses to the dealership and the employee are based on customer response•Studies show that customers expect clean shiny cars •Contracts with car washing facilities
Construction Operations•Mechanical issues•Safety issues
Public health issue•Fire trucks•Food Trucks•Garbage Trucks
What We Learned
• Water efficiency standards are set by the car wash associations
• Car washes operate on very little profit
• Water is their biggest expense: and therefore their biggest motivation to reduce
• Most car washes recycle their water
• Home car wash uses 100-140 gallons of water per car. Commercial carwash on the highest setting will use about 45.
• Water is collected for stormwater treatment or reuse.
MAKING IT HAPPEN
1. Identified our Stakeholders
2. Brought them in as a collective
group
3. Explained our goal
4. Requested their input
5. Drafted language for Their
review
6. Held Public meeting
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VEHICLE WASH REGULATIONSDefinitions
Vehicle Wash Facility: A permanently-located business that washes vehicles or other
mobile equipment with water or water-based products, including but not limited to self-service car washes, full service car washes, roll-over/inbay style car washes, and facilities managing vehicle fleets or vehicle inventory
Determined the required efficiency standards
•Spray wands at 3.5 gallons per minute for cars /10 gallons per minute for commercial equipment
•Drive through friction or touchless -35 gallons/vehicle
•In-bay automatic rollover- 45 gallons /vehicle
•Reuse of RO reject
Plumbing Inspection
Created an annual efficiency reporting program
•Requires a licensed plumber to perform the efficiency evaluation
•Identified every vehicle washing facility
•Separated them by zip code
•Properties that fail must turn off the offending part of their system until a new evaluation can be performed
•Those facilities that maintain a passing efficiency evaluation may continue to operate during drought.
•Enforcement for noncompliance
Jadell HinesEnvironmental Conservation Program ManagerWater Conservation Division Austin [email protected](512) 974-3545
“It is vain to talk of the interest of the community, without understanding what is the interest of the individual.” Jeremy Bentham