VVWD Names Winner Of Water Conservation Contest

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The Virgin Valley Water District celebrated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Fix a Leak Week” in a royal way last week.

District staff put together a “Royal Leak Detection” contest to celebrate the national observance on March 20-26. And the winner received a new “Throne,” a WaterSense toilet courtesy of Mountainland Supply.
“To enter the drawing people had to fix any leak within that time and submit an entry form,” said VVWD Conservation Specialist Natalie Anderson.

A drawing from all of the entries took place on March 27 to determine the winner.
At a VVWD Board Meeting held on Tuesday, April 4, the winner was announced. The new “Throne” went to VVWD Board Member Brian Bingham.
“I never win anything,” said a surprised Bingham as he came down from the dais to claim his porcelain prize. “But I did now.”

Bingham admitted that he couldn’t take all of the credit for fixing the leak at his home. “In full disclosure, my son helped me fix the leak,” he said. “The award should actually go to him. I was more of a supervisor than a fixer. But we got it done.”

Anderson presented Bingham with the new toilet all boxed up and ready to go. He also received a certificate announcing him as the royal winner.

Anderson expressed appreciation to Mountainland Supply for being the sponsor for the contest.
“They very generously sponsored this contest and we appreciate their support, not only of this contest, but our conservation efforts,” she said.

The EPA’s Fix a Leak Week is held to bring awareness to the impact of household water leaks on the nation’s water supply.

According to the EPA, the average household’s water leaks can account for nearly 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year; and ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day.

That adds up to as much as one trillion gallons of water lost to household leaks each year nationwide – enough to provide water for 11 million homes.

The EPA recommends that homeowners do a regular check on whether they are wasting water through leaks. Here are several tips in doing that.
• Take a look at water usage during a colder month. If a family of four exceeds 12,000 gallons per month, there are serious leaks.
• Check the water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter changes at all, there is probably a leak.
• Identify toilet leaks by placing a drop of food coloring in the toilet tank. If any color shows up in the bowl after 10 minutes, you have a leak. (Be sure to flush immediately after the experiment to avoid staining the tank.)
• Examine faucet gaskets and pipe fittings for any water on the outside of the pipe to check for surface leaks.

The EPA offers checklists to keep track of leak detection efforts at www.epa.gov/watersense/fix-leak-week.