FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 6, 2022
City of Charlottesville receives its eighth Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense Award in Sustained Excellence for helping the Charlottesville community save water and money!
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the City of Charlottesville with a 2022 WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award, the highest level of program recognition, for its commitment to promoting WaterSense and water efficiency in 2021.
The City of Charlottesville was recently recognized along with 33 other utilities, manufacturers, builders, retailers, and other organizations that partner with WaterSense for its work in promoting water-efficient products, homes, and programs.
WaterSense, a voluntary partnership program sponsored by EPA, is both a label for water-efficient products, programs, and homes and a resource for helping consumers learn ways to save water. Since 2006, more than 2,100 WaterSense partners and over 40,000 models of certified water-efficient plumbing and irrigation products have helped consumers and businesses save 6.4 trillion gallons of water—enough water to supply all households in the United States with water for eight months. In addition to water savings, WaterSense has helped reduce the amount of energy needed to pump, treat, and heat water by 754 billion kilowatt hours and helped consumers save $135 billion in water and energy bills. These savings also helped prevent 288 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is equivalent to planting 4.8 billion trees!
“Throughout 2021, our award-winning partners helped people protect this precious resource by promoting WaterSense labeled products and water-efficient behaviors,” said Veronica Blette, Chief, EPA WaterSense Branch. “Saving water is particularly critical in areas impacted by drought, but is also a path to helping consumers stretch dollars by reducing their water and energy bills.”
WaterSense honored the City of Charlottesville as a Sustained Excellence Award winner for a fifth year in a row and eighth year of receiving a WaterSense award. Highlighted programs and community engagement efforts by Charlottesville’s Water Conservation Program in 2021 include:
- Issued 149 toilet rebates estimated to save more than 1.39 million gallons of water per year!
- Held a virtual Fix a Leak campaign which included a Home Scavenger Hunt to help the community get to know their water fixtures, a Rivanna Scavenger Hunt along the Rivanna River learning about finding and fixing leaks, and a virtual Fix a Leak Family 5K.
- Held a virtual “Imagine a Day without Water” campaign and art contest with the theme “Love Our Water”, which had 224 art submissions and YouTube video announcing the winners.
- Collaborated with local partners, Community Climate Collaborative and Virginia Discovery Museum, to deliver 400 climate action kits to the Walker Upper Elementary fifth grade class on Earth Day, which included a toilet leak detection activity.
“The Charlottesville Water Conservation Program continues to explore unique and innovative ways to connect with our community,” said Stacey Smalls, the City of Charlottesville’s Public Works Director. “The EPA WaterSense program provides a critical path to grow and expand our Water Conservation Program. The Charlottesville community’s commitment to our environment continues to motivate us to deliver relevant and effective programs that engage our community.”
For more information about WaterSense and the 2022 award winners, visit www.epa.gov/watersense.
WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by EPA, seeks to protect the future of our nation's water supply by offering consumers and businesses simple ways to use less water with water-efficient products, homes, and services.
For more information about the Charlottesville Water Conservation Program, visit www.charlottesville.gov/waterconservation.
Media Contact
Jill Greiner
Water Efficiency Program Coordinator
City of Charlottesville
434-970-3877
greinerj@charlottesville.gov