Mayor Garcetti Announces New At-Home Water Monitoring Device For LADWP Customers

The Flume pilot program will allow customers to track at-home water use, detect leaks, and create a water budget

Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced the launch of Los Angeles Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) Flume pilot program – an at-home water monitoring device that can track at-home water use, detect leaks, and create a water budget for customers.

“We don’t need a crystal ball to see that skyrocketing temperatures and dying reservoirs are in our future, so we need to keep finding ways to help Angelenos double down on their historic efforts to conserve,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “While Angelenos have taken our calls to cut back to heart, it can be hard to manage what you can’t measure – and now, thanks to the Flume device, customers can have the awareness they need to stay on top of their water use and understand where and when they need to be doing a better job of conserving.”

The new pilot program offers a substantial discount for the purchase of Flume, a wifi-enabled device that simply attaches to a customer’s water meter and delivers usage data to a downloaded app available on a smartphone, tablet, and website browser. In addition to the 24/7 water monitoring data for indoor and outdoor water consumption, the app offers a host of features to help customers understand and take control of their water use, including an appliance by appliance breakdown of water use, customizable leak dedication, and water budgets that allow customers to set targets for their water usage.

To be eligible for the discount, LADWP customers must live in a single-family residence and purchase the device directly through the Flume website at www.flumewater.com/ladwp. Flume normally retails for $199, but thanks to LADWP’s pilot program, customers can now purchase a device for just $49. A $25 refundable deposit is automatically refunded once the customer has installed the device, resulting in a total cost of only $24 plus shipping and taxes.

“We heard from our customers on what they say will help them better take control of their water use and their utility bills and we are excited to be able to provide a generous rebate that we hope will incentivize our customers to adopt the use of this smart device,” said Commissioner Mia Lehrer or the Board of Water and Power Commissioners. “This rebate, along with others like our generous turf replacement incentive and our $500 rebate for efficient clothes washers, is another important tool for our customers during this historic drought.”

“A key part of being more conscientious about our water use is understanding how we’re actually using that water. Currently, our customers learn their home’s water use through their bi-monthly LADWP bill,” said LADWP General Manager Martin L. Adams. “But through the Flume device, we can get this information into our customers’ hands in real time, empowering them to make more informed decisions about their water use, to detect a potential leak, and ultimately to save on their water bill.”

Earlier this month, Mayor Garcetti announced that Angelenos have achieved the lowest water use for the summer months on record in the City of Los Angeles – reducing their water use by 10% in August, 11% in July, and 9% in June, all record-lows – and urged customers to continue to conserve in the face of prolonged shortages. Outdoor watering from three days a week to two went into effect on June 1, 2022.

All watering continues to be limited to Mondays and Fridays for LADWP customers with street addresses ending in odd numbers, and Thursdays and Sundays for all customers with addresses ending in even numbers. These restrictions also stipulate that customers watering with sprinklers are limited to eight minutes per use; watering with sprinklers using water conserving nozzles are limited to 15 minutes; and watering between the hours of 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM is prohibited, regardless of the watering day. Hand watering of trees is still allowed and encouraged.

LADWP’s Water Conservation Response Unit saw an increase to over 2,346 water waste reports in August. Individuals can report water waste via various channels: online at ladwp.com/waterwaste, by calling LADWP 1-800-DIAL-DWP or calling the city’s 311 hotline, or through the 311 smartphone app.

In addition to a variety of rebates and incentives, LADWP, in partnership with LA Sanitation and Environment, has reopened two local recycled water filling stations for customers to pick up free recycled, non-potable water for their landscaping needs. The two refill stations are located at the Los Angeles-Glendale Water Reclamation Plant and the LA Zoo parking lot. To be eligible for the program, Angelenos must be an active LADWP customer, complete and sign an application form, and complete a brief training class available onsite. Customers have also responded with a 10-fold increase in applications for LADWP’s Turf Replacement Rebate Program, which offers $3 per square foot to replace a lawn with drought tolerant landscaping.

Since Mayor Garcetti took office in 2013, LADWP customers have saved over 256.8 billion gallons of water – enough water to fill the LA Coliseum over 913 times, and nearly double the amount of water LADWP uses in an entire year. LADWP has invested hundreds of millions in its rebate programs, and in addition to the increases of the washers and toilets rebate last year, is continuing to look for ways to expand its current programs. For the past decade, LADWP’s turf replacement rebate program has helped Angelenos replace over 51.9 million square feet of turf, which equates to enough water savings to supply 28,087 homes per year.

For more information about the pilot program and to purchase a device, please visit www.flumewater.com/ladwp. Information about LADWP’s other rebated devices is available at ladwp.com/save.