SCV Water has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a 2022 WaterSense Excellence Award winner for its Multifamily Apartment Program, a data-driven program developed to improve water efficiency in multifamily housing in Santa Clarita Valley.

“It is an honor to win our third WaterSense Excellence Award,” said Sustainability Manager Matt Dickens. “We have established great relationships with local property management companies that see the benefits of conserving water and are willing to install WaterSense-labeled products to help reduce their properties’ water use.”

In recognition of their commitment to promoting WaterSense and water efficiency in 2021, SCV Water was honored during the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas, along with 33 other awardees – utilities, manufacturers, builders, retailers, and other organizations that partner with WaterSense to promote water-efficient products, homes, and programs.

“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, 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.”

The Multifamily Apartment Program started in 2018 and continued in 2021, using the EPA’s Portfolio Manager Water Score tool. SCV Water collected water use and property data on approximately 90% of the multifamily complexes in Santa Clarita Valley to generate a water score for each property. The water score and the overall volume of water used at each property were used to identify those properties and customers where the most water savings could be achieved.

“The Water Score tool has allowed us to engage with property owners and show them the data we collected on their water use to identify key areas for them to focus on for greater water savings,” said Julia Grothe, water conservation specialist at SCV Water. “Property managers we have
worked with are happy to see how much water is being saved, and to see the lower water bills that result.”

Using meter data, SCV Water staff verified that approximately 82 million gallons were conserved in 2021 as a result of the device retrofits, toilet installations, and leak repairs, and has confirmed that over 178 million gallons have been saved since the implementation of Phases I, II, and III of the Multifamily Apartment Program.