NEWS

City of Charlottesville Receives the 2021 EPA WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award

City of Charlottesville receives their seventh Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense Award in Sustained Excellence for helping the Charlottesville community save water and money!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the City of Charlottesville with a 2021 WaterSense Sustained Award, the highest level of program recognition, for its dedication to helping the community save water, even with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The City of Charlottesville was recognized along with 33 utilities, manufacturers, builders, and other organizations that are making it possible for consumers and businesses to save billions of gallons of water each year as part of its Partner of the Year Awards. 

WaterSense, a voluntary partnership program sponsored by EPA, is both a label for water-efficient products and homes and a resource for helping consumers learn ways to save water. Since the program started in 2006, WaterSense labeled products have helped consumers and businesses save 5.3 trillion gallons of water- enough water to supply all households in the United States with water for 200 days! In addition to water savings, WaterSense has helped reduce the amount of energy needed to heat, pump, and treat water by 603 billion kilowatt hours and save $108 billion in water and energy bills.

“In 2020, our WaterSense partners continued to make saving water possible by educating consumers and businesses about WaterSense and water-efficient behaviors,” said Veronica Blette, the WaterSense program manager. “Our award winners’ creative and committed approaches to water conservation helped consumers save water, energy, and money on their utility bills at a time when they needed it most.”

WaterSense Award winners demonstrate their commitment to saving this precious resource by producing, building, and promoting labeled products and homes that are independently certified to use less water and perform well. WaterSense honored the City of Charlottesville as a Sustained Excellence Award winner for a fourth year in a row and seventh year of receiving a WaterSense award. Highlighted programs and community engagement efforts by Charlottesville’s Water Conservation Program in 2020 include:

• Issued 130 toilet rebates estimated to save more than 1.21 million gallons of water per year!
• Promoted water saving tips with its weekly #WaterTipWednesday (or #WTW) on social media posting over 500 times to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
• Held a virtual “Imagine a Day without Water” campaign and art contest with the theme “What Water Means to Me”, which had 120 art submissions and featured winners during a Cville360 news segment. 
• Updated and revamped the Water Conservation website (LINK) with new content and WaterSense messaging to support educating the community while there were no in-person events.

“The past year has been a challenge for all of us in trying to maintain a normal level of operations during the pandemic,” said Kristel Riddervold, the City of Charlottesville’s Environmental Sustainability and Facilities Development Manager. “The Charlottesville Water Conservation program was determined to maintain its connections with our community in providing information and resources without having in-person opportunities. The City staff supporting this program found unique ways to continue its high level of communication with the support and new resources from the EPA WaterSense program in navigating through this unique time. Charlottesville being selected for an EPA WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award is an example of staff’s efforts and commitment to this program’s success.”

For more information about WaterSense and the 2021 award winners, visit www.epa.gov/watersense.

Energy and Water Management in Charlottesville City Schools

Charlottesville City Schools and the City’s Energy and Water Management Team are working together to reduce the energy and water footprint of all City schools. On April 11th, 2019 the School Board approved an Energy and Water Performance resolution, showing a commitment to achieving and maintaining high performing school facilities. 

Continuing on past efforts, the City’s maintenance and development teams are specifying high efficiency building equipment, such as high-efficiency chillers and LED lighting, and are enhancing operational control through advanced building automation systems. Charlottesville Schools and the City’s Energy and Water Management Team continue to investigate ways to accelerate the installation of high performance equipment throughout our schools.

The City is also working with each school to raise awareness about energy and water saving practices through education and outreach efforts that include distributing educational materials and providing tips and strategies that students and faculty can use to reduce the energy and water impact at our schools. 

Each quarter a different theme emphasizes aspects of energy and water efficiency/conservation. Check out all the great outreach efforts and materials on the City's Energy and Water Management Program Outreach and Engagement website (LINK).

Read more about the City’s Energy and Water Management Program on their web page.