|
Town of Snowflake
Water Conservation Plan
3.0 REQUIRMENTS OF HOUSE BILL 2277:
This is part III of the System Water Plan passed by the
legislature in 2005 requiring all water supply systems develop a
Water conservation Plan.
3.1 Benefits of Water Conservation:
The objective of the Town of Snowflake’s Water Conservation
Plan is to achieve efficient use of water supply resources. The
goal is to accomplish conservation through practices and
measures that reduce per capita water consumption within the
distribution system and water use by the customer. Meeting this
objective will allow extending the use of available water
supplies and existing infrastructure into the future.
It should be emphasized that to the Snowflake Water
Utilities, conservation means using water wisely. A
well-designed Water Conservation Plan will not deprive our
community of essential water uses. Rather, it will provide a
blueprint for more efficient water use. This approach could have
the following benefits.
Lower water bills for customers.
Control of future water rates.
Extended availability and improved protection of
water resources.
3.2 Water Conservation Planning Elements:
Elements most critical to the development of a water
conservation plan include indoor and outdoor conservation
practices, landscaping practices and plumbing retrofit
installations. Other elements considered in preparing this plan
are:
Plan to meter all town government water use.
A plan for public education and information.
Plumbing Code requirements.
Universal metering.
Water audits and leak detection requirements.
Plan implementation.
These elements are placed in three implementation phases; (1)
Change in immediate practices, (2) Education, and (3)
Monitoring. These phases will be discussed later.
3.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF SNOWFLAKE WATER SYSTEM:
3.3.1 Ground Water Supply System:
The Town of Snowflake currently maintains 4 wells throughout
the system. Well # 1 (425 gpm) and Well # 2 (1200 gpm) primarily
supply water to the downtown areas. Well # 3 or the Snowflake
Heights Well (600 gpm) supplies water to the Snowflake Heights
area and also loops into the downtown area supplying water
during increased demand periods. Well # 4 or the Pinhead Well
(800 gpm) supplies water to the west side of town and also loops
into the downtown area supplying water during increased water
demand periods.
3.3.2 Ground Storage:
Well # 1 and Well # 2 both pump into a 1,000,000 gallon
storage tank located in the downtown area. Well # 3 pumps into a
300,000 gallon tank located in the Snowflake Heights area. Well
# 4 pumps into a 300,000 gallon tank located on the West side of
Town. Total storage capacity is 1,600,000 gallons of water.
3.3.3 Future Growth:
The Town of Snowflake anticipates growth to continue at
around 6% annually. Preliminary stages are under way to prepare
and plan for an additional well site with storage towards the
far west side of town, the direction of growth.
3.4 IMMEDIATE CHANGE OF PRACTICE:
3.4.1 Plumbing Code Requirements:
The Town of Snowflake is considering enacting an ordinance
that adopts the International Plumbing Code (IPC) 2006. The Town
recognizes the IPC to be more in line with conservation efforts.
3.4.2 Universal Metering:
The Town of Snowflake recognizes that to determine amount of
water loss it must meter all lines connected to the water mains.
The Town of Snowflake is proceeding with a plan to begin
metering all town government connections to the water mains. Due
to the expense of larger meters and labor costs involved the
town anticipates this project to take several years to implement
in its entirety.
3.5 EDUCATION:
3.5.1 Public Education and Information:
The Town of Snowflake will promote water conservation by
informing the public about methods to conserve water and
demonstrate ways to become contributors to the plan. This
information will be distributed with the customer water bill.
Conservation tips will also be posted to the Town’s website.
The Town of Snowflake’s water personnel periodically visits
with schools to help educate the youth on the wise use of water.
The Town of Snowflake’s water personnel periodically gives
tours of the water system to scout groups during these tours
conservation is discussed.
3.5.2 New Customer Program:
Material describing water conservation tips is available to
new customers when they apply for service. They will also be
advised on how to determine if they have a leak.
3.5.3 Plumbing Retrofit Program:
The Town encourages customers and owners of buildings that do
not have water conserving plumbing devices to retrofit their old
fixtures. The Retrofit Program show customers that long term
money and water savings can be accomplished by retrofitting old
plumbing.
3.6 MONITORING:
3.6.1 Ongoing Audit of Customer Usage:
Individual metering is required on all single family
residential dwellings attached to the town water system. During
meter reading each month, Town of Snowflake personnel watch for
spikes in above average water usage and report them. Staff will
contact the user to verify that this large usage is not due to a
potential water leak. Staff also observes lower than normal
water usage and ensures that it is not a pattern caused by a
malfunctioning meter. If the meter is suspected of
malfunctioning it will be tested and if needed replaced.
3.6.2 Leak Detection and Control of Unaccounted for Water:
The Town will conduct an internal audit to confirm that the
water system is free from excessive leakage. This will be
accomplished by comparing water pumped with the amount of water
billed on a quarterly basis. The plan will begin once all town
government usage is metered.
When loss of water is greater than 10% during any quarter,
the comparison will be reviewed the following month if the
source is unknown. If the loss again registers over 10% leak
detection equipment will be used over that portion of the system
to detect if there is a water leak.
3.6.3 Plan Implementation:
The Town manager will act as the administrator of the Water
Conservation Plan. The Administrator will oversee the execution
and implementation of all elements of the Plan. He/she will
oversee record keeping for program verification.
An Ordinance by the Town to implement the legal documents
necessary to enact the Drought Preparedness Plan and this
Water Conservation Plan.
Enforcement of current Plumbing Code requirements to use
Water Conservation fixtures and devices.
3.7 GOALS & OBJECTIVES:
The Town of Snowflake continues to maintain its goals for
water conservation.
Determine amount of water loss and reduce this loss to
less than 5%.
Use internal programs to minimize water use.
Continue and expand public education.
Once the Town of Snowflake has better control of water loss,
and the ability to determine water usage, the Administrator will
attempt to define better monitoring and improve conservation
measures.
Town of Snowflake
81 West 1st South
Snowflake, Arizona 85937
(928) 536-7103
(928) 536-2539 FAX
public_works@ci.snowflake.az.us
|
