t15 reuse water utilities-loucraft

CUSTOMER CONNECTION

PROGRAM

Maria Loucraft &

Randy Brown

April 23, 2013

The City of Pompano Beach

• Coastal City with a population 104,402 in 25 square miles

• Serve about 80,000 people for water, wastewater collections

• Provide stormwater service to entire City

• Provide Reuse for irrigation

City located in

southeast Florida

in Broward County

The City of Pompano Beach’s

Reuse History • In 1980s the Golf Course Over-pumped their wells

and Consumptive Use Permit (CUP) DENIED

• City Utilities applied for CUP – DENIED

City built a Reuse Plant in 1989 to water golf

courses, medians and parks – expanded in 2002

• Pompano Beach has no Wastewater Facility, tapped

Broward Ocean Outfall line

Reuse Treatment Plant

Reuse Plant Statistics

• Capacity is 7.5 Million Gallons per Day (MGD)

• Current Flow is about 2.0 MGD

• Expansion Potential to 12.0 MGD

• Reuse Types - Public Access Areas,

Landscape, Golf Course & Residential

Irrigation

Influent Pumps from 54”Outfall Line

South Sand Filters

Low Pressure Pumps to the City and

Lighthouse Point

High Pressure Pumps to the Golf

Course

Monitoring 24 Hours a Day

Where We Were 2011

• Ability to pump 7.5

MGD - 2 MGD actual

• 26 miles of pipe in the

ground

• CUP requirement to

be at 4.5 by 2016

• About 1,200 homes

eligible for reuse

• Only 73 homes

hooked up

What Was Up? Customer Issues

• Up front cost for private side work

• Did not want to bother with permit

• Did not want to bother with backflows & annual

inspections

• “SOMEONE” promised it was FREE

The New Program • City Commission & City Manager requested new

program

• Effective Utility Management Assessment

identified need for improvement

• Changed type of Backflow

• Automated Meter Reading (added protection)

• Changed backflow ownership in Ordinance

• Brought in Contractor to manage and work with

Plumbers (private property)

• Brought in PR Firm (outreach, education,

website, mailers)

Public Outreach Component • Staff Left Brained & Technical

• Environmental PR

• City Cable Channel

• IcanWater.com Website (signup & info)

• Phone Hotline

• Press Releases & Newspapers/Magazines

• Community Events & HOAs

• Banners, signs, mailers, cards

New Program – Reward Existing

Customers • Mailers sent to existing reuse customers

• Could sign up at IcanWater.com or by calling

customer service or the hotline

• Sent them a Hold Harmless form to Authorize

City to hire a plumber to replace their existing

backflow device and change it out with a new

below ground device

• City will own device -no more annual inspections

• Reuse rate stayed the same

New Program – New Customers

• City sent mailers/letters

• Sign up on-line or by calling customer service or

hotline

• Upon authorization from owner (Hold Harmless)

Contractor schedules a plumber to do the

connection work

• Plumber handles the permit and City Building

Department conducts the inspection.

• New reuse rate, slightly higher than the existing,

but much lower than potable

Cost Comparison

Drinking Water Reuse

0-7K $2.24 0-20K $0.85

8-11K $3.07 21-40K $1.68

12-15K $4.27 >40K $2.49

>15K $6.00

Potential Cost Savings

• For a new reuse

customer that

uses about

10,000 gallons of

water per month

(4,000 for

irrigation), expect

about $200

savings per year

Who is Eligible?

• Single Family Residential Owners

• Have purple box in yard

• If don’t have irrigation system, can use a hose

bibb provided by the City

Customer Benefits

• Lower watering bills

• Can water any day (no water shortage

orders)

• Reduced fertilizer usage

City Benefits

• Provides for City Sustainability

• Extends our drinking water supply

• Lowers future capital costs for upgrades to Water Plant & other Alternative Water Supplies

• Prevents saltwater intrusion & protects drinking water wells

• Mitigates sea level rise

• Green option reducing carbon footprint

• Assists Broward County with Ocean Outfall issue

• Provides jobs for local plumbers

Partnerships • Broward County

Grant up to $220,000

• Contractor to Manage

program (Eaton)

• Public Relations Firm

for outreach

(Environmental PR)

• Local Plumbers

(Development

Services)

Success Looks Like… 770 Connections by July 2013 and Saving 92.4 MG per year

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Series1

Series2

Happy Customers

Equals

More Customers

More Customers

Sample-McDougald House

Maria Loucraft

maria.loucraft@copbfl.com

954-545-7004

Randy Brown

randolph.brown@copbfl.com

954-545-7043