Watershed Management Commissioner. “We are not just talking about it. We are spending $1 billion on it. And, we continue to challenge our customers to look for new ways to protect our water resources.”
Last Friday, Mayor Shirley Franklin and Department of Watershed Management Commissioner Rob Hunter reiterated the City’s intention to comply with the Governor’s 10 percent water use reduction goals, urging Atlanta’s commercial, industrial and residential customers to conserve water whenever possible and vowing that the City will make conservation one of its top priorities.
The Mayor announced a set of new initiatives intended to cut water use throughout the City, including:
- A $1 million ultra-low-flow toilet rebate program in conjunction with the Atlanta Regional Commission and Home Depot;
- Large customer conservation workshops in cooperation with the Georgia Environmental Protection Divisions aimed at the City’s 50 largest users;
- Changes in policy that include allowing only one landscaping exemption per property;
- Eliminating the sale of irrigation meters;
- Informing customers that, while they may receive a permit to build a pool, they will no longer be allowed to fill the pool; and
- Helping fund water conservation audits for large users.
Yesterday, Hunter presented the City’s new water saving policies before Atlanta City Council, where he announced that the City has already made significant progress toward the state’s mandated 10 percent water reduction. Despite the number of accounts billed has risen from 158,960 in October 2006 to 183,405 in October 2007, Atlanta water customers are taking the City’s conservation message seriously and overall usage has declined from 662.2 gallons per day per account to 537.2 gallons per day per account – a reduction of 129 gallons or 19.4 percent.
The City’s average winter usage is approximately 102 million gallons a day. The Mayor has set a usage goal of 91.5 million gallons a day and is urging all Atlantans to continue to conserve. “We’re all in this together,” she said.
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