Bringing The Water Loss Fight Home During ‘Fix A Leak Week'

When attempting to illustrate the troubled state of the nation’s drinking water infrastructure, we often cite the enormous financial toll that non-revenue water takes on utilities. Municipalities have a vested interest in curbing this epidemic, as they’ve put in the time and money to treat the water to strict drinking standards only to see it lost before it reaches consumers and their meters.

But water loss happens in ways that doesn’t just hurt the utilities’ bottom line. The U.S. EPA estimates that more than one trillion gallons of water are lost through household leaks every year (that’s an 11,000 gallon per year average for every American family) and while the municipality is no longer on the hook for any financial ties to that water, it represents the senseless loss of a precious resource and very real financial impact for the households that the municipality depends on.

That’s why for the last eight years the EPA’s WaterSense program has been working to curb these losses through its “Fix a Leak Week” initiative.

In essence, it’s a marketing effort meant to inform consumers of the gravity of water loss in their homes and to encourage them that there’s something they can do about it. Through news releases and social media promotion, the EPA implores Americans to become “leak detectives” who take it upon themselves to fix pipes and appliances.

“In order to encourage behavior change among even the least-handy of consumers, WaterSense wanted to keep the actions simple,” an agency spokesperson said. “The mantra ‘check, twist, replace’ covers everything from checking a toilet for silent leaks, to twisting pipe fittings and replacing aging fixtures.”

The public outreach initiative took place from March 14 through 20 this year. While water loss metrics were not collected to measure the week’s efficacy, the EPA feels that as a marketing effort, it got the word around.

“Given how many partners and people participate in Fix a Leak Week each year, we consider it a success at promoting WaterSense and water efficiency,” the spokesperson said. “In 2016, there were more than 70 partner events that we knew of in 20 states and Canadian provinces. Our Twitter reach during Fix a Leak Week 2016 was more than 4 million, with nearly 5,000 tweets and retweets about it by 2,300-plus Twitter contributors. On Facebook, WaterSense’s Fix a Leak Week posts reached more than 42,000 people.”

Introduced in 2009 with a handful of leak-fixing drives, the campaign evolved along with the water companies and municipalities that partnered with WaterSense. Events have included workshops, city proclamations, and foot races.

“In recent years, WaterSense has picked a theme for Fix a Leak Week but relies on its partners to organize and promote their own events using graphic identifiers and others tools WaterSense provides,” the spokesperson said. “This year’s tools included student/family worksheets and a 10-minute leak detection challenge checklist.”

While Fix a Leak Week has saved countless gallons of water from indoor fixtures, the EPA sees the next big step looming outside.

“A remaining  challenge is getting consumers to understand the importance of managing leaks and other water waste outdoors,” the spokesperson said. “A leak in an irrigation line as small as the tip of a ballpoint pen could waste about 6,300 gallons per month. So while Fix a Leak Week has passed, we continue to message the importance of checking for water waste through our ‘Sprinkler Spruce Up’ campaign, which WaterSense and its partners message from mid-April to mid-May. We advise consumers to inspect their systems for clogged, broken, or missing sprinkler heads; examine the points where sprinkler heads connect to pipes or hoses for breaks; and direct water away from pavement to water the landscape.”

While the scourge of non-revenue water will continue to have its dramatic impact on the overall supply, the EPA’s Fix a Leak efforts can only mean good things for consumers, their appreciation for the value of water, and our collective future.

^1. WaterSense, a voluntary water efficiency program sponsored by the EPA, partners with utilities, manufacturers, and retail locations to promote water-saving standards for products like toilets, faucets, and showerheads. Products that meet these standards receive a WaterSense label. Fix a Leak Week is partially an effort to promote the use of these products.