t15 reuse water utilities-loucraft
TRANSCRIPT
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
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100
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600
Series1
Series2
Happy Customers
Equals
More Customers
More Customers
Sample-McDougald House
Maria Loucraft
954-545-7004
Randy Brown
954-545-7043