Voluntary Watering Restrictions Enacted

   At the May Board meeting the District Board approved voluntary watering restrictions.  The District is asking our customers to conserve water by voluntarily following a 3-day watering schedule. 
   The District supplies approximately 80% of our water from shallow wells along Cherry Creek.  The aquifer that these wells draw off is recharged from snowmelt and rainfall.  During this period of drought, we are monitoring our water levels closely, and since this is a surface water supply, we are subject to the seniority of water rights on the Platte River system.  At this point in time, we project that we will have adequate supplies this year based on our historical rates of use.  However, during April the average use per home was approximately twice what we normally experience, and thus far this trend is continuing for the month of May.  In addition, toward the end of April our daily delivery of water exceeded the maximum day that we had in 2001.  Even accounting for the growth we have experienced, these are alarming trends. 
   By voluntarily following a three-day watering schedule our customers can help us to reduce our peak delivery demands and save the water for later in the year. 

Biosolids: A Proactive Choice for Water Conservation

Did you know that most Colorado soils contain less than 1.5 percent organic matter?

   Robert Brobst, Biosolids program coordinator for the EPA's Region 8, notes that on the eastern plains of Colorado, calls Biosolids a good source of organic matter that can be used to build up the soil by feeding naturally occurring bacteria. "Chemical fertilizers, you are feeding the plant directly." "Biosolids, you feed the soil and the soil feeds the plants," says Brobst. When applied to land, the organic matter in Biosolids improves the soil's structure, increases its water-holding capacity, and feeds essential soil microorganisms. This improvement to the soil reduces the need to irrigate and provides natural drought resistance. Biosolids use also protects groundwater because, unlike commercial chemical fertilizers, plant nutrients are released slowly, eliminating excess nitrogen (nitrate) release into groundwater.
   For more information on how you can obtain Biosolids, call Shannon @ 303.841.2797 ext. 39.

Water Rates Encourage Conservation

   The District implemented a water rate increase at the beginning of 2002.  The water rate structure is known as an inclining block rate.  This means that the more water you use the more you pay per gallon.  This type of rate structure is commonly used to encourage conservation.  For 2002 our residential rates for each bimonthly billing period are:

Water Conservation Kits Available

   The District has Water Conservation Kits available for you. The Conservation Kit consists of the following; A low-flow shower head, toilet tank displacement bag, 1.5 gpm bathroom faucet aerator, kitchen faucet aerator, home water audit booklet, flow gauge bag and two toilet leak detection dye tablets. If you are interested in receiving a kit please call Mary Applegate a call at 303-841-2797 ext. 0. She will need your name and address so that we can deliver one to your house. Thanks for doing your part to conserve.

www.watersaver.org

   For help in figuring out how much water your lawn needs go to www.watersaver.org. This web-site will guide you through a short questionnaire about what kind of lawn and plants you have, and what kind of sprinkler heads you have. With that information, the web-site will calculate how long you need to run your sprinklers to provide adequate irrigation for each month of the year. Thanks to Denver Water for putting together this helpful web-site.

Denver Water Ten Tips for Saving Ten Percent

Following are tips from Denver water for reducing your water use by 10 percent

1. Cut your watering time by 10 percent, and lighten up on the fertilizer.

2. Tune up your automatic sprinkler system. You wouldn't expect your car to run for years without adjustments and still get good mileage. Sprinklers won't do it either.

3. Water only early in the morning and after sundown. Check out www.watersaver.org for the amount of time to water yards.

4. Find those leaks and fix them. Do you hear an annoying drip or a remote hissing? It could be a leaky spigot or a toilet (costing you 15 gallons every hour).

5. Cut down your shower time. The average person showers for 8 minutes (yes, we've been checking). You can shower for 6 and be semi-squeaky clean.

6. Run your dishwasher 10 times in 2 weeks? Run it chock full 9 times.

7. You're doing 10 loads of laundry each month? Load up the washer and do 9.

8. Use a bucket instead of a hose when washing your car. One for soap and one for rinse. That's how your grandfather did it, and don't you wish you had a car as good looking as his?

9. Get out the real broom instead of the water broom and sweep your walks and driveways instead of hosing them down.

10. Sorry, kids. No running through the sprinkler and swooping down the water slides this year. The neighborhood pool will have to do.

District Contributes to Water Conservation Campaign

   The Pinery Water and Wastewater District along with the Douglas County Water Resource Authority and other South Metro water providers are contributing to Denver Water for their water conservation awareness campaign. Water conservation is a very important component for the long-term water supply for the entire State of Colorado.