WAC 246-290-810
Water use efficiency program. (1) Water
system plans and small water system management programs
submitted for approval for the first year after the effective
date of this rule, must describe the municipal water
supplier's existing water use efficiency program. The
municipal water supplier must continue existing levels of
water use efficiency.
(2) Subsections (3) and (4) of this section apply to:
(a) Water system plans submitted to the department for
approval under WAC 246-290-100 one year after the effective
date of this rule.
(b) Small water system management programs developed and
implemented or submitted to the department for approval one
year after the effective date of this rule.
(3) Municipal water suppliers shall develop and implement
a water use efficiency program which includes sufficient
cost-effective water use efficiency measures to meet the water
use efficiency goals developed under WAC 246-290-830.
(4) Municipal water suppliers shall complete the
following items in the water use efficiency program:
(a) Describe the current water use efficiency program;
(b) For systems serving one thousand or more total
connections, estimate the amount of water saved through
implementation of the water use efficiency program over the
last six years;
(c) Describe the chosen water use efficiency goals and
document the goals were established in accordance with WAC 246-290-830;
(d) Evaluate water use efficiency measures to determine
if they are cost-effective as follows:
(i) Evaluate or implement, at a minimum, the number of
water use efficiency measures specified in Table 1 based on
the system's total number of connections.
(ii) Evaluate or implement water use efficiency measures
from the following categories of measures if they are
applicable: Indoor residential, outdoor, and
industrial/commercial/institutional.
(iii) For systems serving less than one thousand total
connections, describe the evaluation process used to select
water use efficiency measures.
(iv) For systems serving one thousand or more total
connections, include the following criteria when evaluating
water use efficiency measures:
(A) Quantitatively evaluate water use efficiency measures
to determine if they are cost-effective from the system's
perspective including the marginal costs of producing water.
(B) Address whether the water use efficiency measures are
cost-effective if the costs are shared with other entities.
(C) Quantitatively or qualitatively evaluate water use
efficiency measures to determine if they are cost-effective
from the societal perspective.
Table 1
Number of connections
Less than 500
500-999
1,000-2,499
2,500-9,999
10,000-49,999
50,000 or more
Water use efficiency
measures
1
4
5
6
9
12
(e) Describe all water use efficiency measures to be
implemented within the next six years including a schedule and
a budget that demonstrates how the water use efficiency
measures will be funded;
(f) Describe how consumers will be educated on water use
efficiency practices;
(g) Estimate projected water savings from selected water
use efficiency measures;
(h) Describe how the water use efficiency program will be
evaluated for effectiveness;
(i) Evaluate water distribution system leakage as
follows:
(i) Include distribution system leakage totals in
accordance with WAC 246-290-820 for the past six years.
(ii) If necessary, include a copy of the water loss
control action plan in accordance with WAC 246-290-820(4).
(iii) If all or portions of transmission lines are
excluded when determining distribution system leakage,
estimate the amount of leakage from the excluded portion of
the transmission mains and describe how it is maintained to
minimize leakage.