Fix a Leak Week 2009
WaterSense Launches Fix a Leak Week in Phoenix
Demonstration Project in Phoenix
Fix a Leak Week demonstration
EPA officially launched Fix a Leak Week on March 16, 2009, at the home of Debbie and Dennis Jobin, longtime residents of Phoenix, Arizona. One week earlier, on March 9, EPA and its partners the Arizona Department of Water Resources, City of Phoenix, and Ferguson, set up a demonstration project in the Jobin's driveway to show just how much water is lost due to leaky plumbing fixtures in seven days' time.
The display included two toilets, two faucets, and a showerhead, each slowly dripping. Over the course of the week, the fixtures leaked more than 200 gallons of water—enough to meet the Jobin's daily drinking water needs for a whole year!
New WaterSense labeled toilet in the
Jobin's home
To help prevent future leaks in the Jobin's house, the City of Phoenix replaced old fixtures with new WaterSense labeled toilets and faucets. These new high-efficiency fixtures will save them water and money in the future. The fixtures were generously donated by Ferguson, a WaterSense partner. In addition, EPA donated the water collected in the cistern to a company for use irrigating local businesses and schools.
In 2008, the Arizona Department of Water Resources won the WaterSense State Challenge, which challenged state governments to recruit utilities to join WaterSense. Arizona had impressive results by nearly quadrupling its original number of WaterSense utility partners. With numerous government and utility partners in the area, Phoenix was an ideal community to launch Fix a Leak Week.
Fix a Leak Week Pledge
How long have you been ignoring that pitter patter coming from the shower? How about the leaky spigot on the side of the house, or that running toilet? While leaks might sometimes seem like small problems, over time they can waste both valuable water resources and money. On average, a U.S. household can leak 11,000 gallons of water per year.
Household water leaks rob homeowners of 12 percent of their water bill through problems such as worn-out toilet flappers, dripping faucets, and leaking valves. In 2009, WaterSense initiated the Fix a Leak Week Pledge and asked for a commitment to repair some of these common household leaks. Homeowners across the country responded by pledging to fix leaks that totaled more than 5.5 million gallons of water! If everyone made good on their pledge that would be enough water to fill more than 550 backyard swimming pools!
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