News Flash

For the fifth year in a row, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized the City of Durham Department of Water Management with a WaterSense Excellence Award. This particular award honors the department’s Water Efficiency team for Excellence in Outreach and Promoting Labeled Products.

The team earned this distinction for achievements and efforts in 2019 that include:

Reaching 9,472 Durham residents through 44 public education events

• Issuing 609 toilet rebates (saving about 3.1 million gallons per year)
• Providing 293 WaterSense showerheads (saving about 1.4 million gallons per year)
• Providing 362 water-efficient faucet aerators to residents
• Completing 337 water use assessments

“We’re excited that EPA WaterSense is recognizing our hard work once again. Earning this award five years in a row is a testament to the dedication of our team and how hard each member works to educate our community about the value of water. These accomplishments wouldn’t be possible without their commitment and enthusiasm and support of department management,” said James Lim, Water Efficiency Manager. “We look forward to continuing this work with innovative approaches as we face the significant challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the way it’s changed how we all interact and deliver services.”

WaterSense is a voluntary partnership program sponsored by EPA as a label for water-efficient products and a resource to help consumers learn how to save water. WaterSense labeled products, homes, and programs helped save 871 billion gallons of water in 2019, along with the energy used to heat that water and money on utility bills. 

“Since the program started in 2006, our WaterSense partners have made it possible for consumers and businesses to save more than 4.4 trillion gallons of water and $87 billion on utility bills,” said Veronica Blette, WaterSense Program Manager. “Our award winners in particular have gone above and beyond to make water, energy, and money savings easy for Americans.”

For more useful information about WaterSense and the 2020 award winners, please visit www.epa.gov/watersense.