Walsack, Phil, Missouri Public Utility Alliance, Infrastructure Upkeep & You, 2015 MECC KC

Infrastructure Upkeep

Philip WalsackManager Environmental Services

Infrastructure Upkeep

Philip WalsackManager Environmental Services

Infrastructure Upkeep&

YOU

Philip WalsackManager Environmental Services

YOULet’s play “What If”?

What if YOU (and I mean you personally…don’t go looking at your neighbor…yeah…YOU…) had $100 to spend on an environmental improvement, that would make a “difference”…..

What would YOU buy?

Dump Your Old Toilet.

Keep the Kid.

He’s Priceless !

The side-mount flush handle has been replaced with a push button on the lid. It is labeled #1 and #2. Do YOU know what these stand for?

Your New ToiletThe toilet is the #1 water user in your household. The popular

rhetoric about showers in nonsense.

Toilets consume 30% of a household’s potable water usage to “flush” your wastes to the wastewater reclamation facility.

Over your lifetime, you will flush about 140,000 times. Toilets older than 1992 are water guzzlers. In 1992, USEPA

imposed standards of 1.6 gallons / flush (gpf…a new acroym!)

New toilet designs have dual action with 0.8 gpf (for #1 usage) to 1.28 gpf (for #2 applications).

Your Toilet & Your Personal FinancesToilets consume 30% of a household’s potable water usage to

“flush” your wastes to the wastewater reclamation facility.Over your lifetime, you will “flush” about 140,000 times.

YOU can easily save 4,000 gallons per year. For a family of four, that’s 16,000 gallons per year. At $2.00 / thousand gallons, YOU just saved $32 on your annual potable water bill. Add to that a savings of $1.50 / thousand on your wastewater bill; or $18 on your annual wastewater bill.

ROI = 23 months. After which, YOU are going out for dinner.

The Russet Potato.

Let’s talk “comfort height”.

Let’s Talk You &Your Water Utility

YOULet’s play “What If” again?

What if YOU were at a City Council meeting and had the opportunity to ask … demand… that the City make a measureable improvement in one area of the potable water utility’s operation…

What would YOU demand?

YOUYOU ask the Mayor: “I am concerned about the

City’s drinking water delivery system and efficiency. Could you please tell me what the percentage of water loss was this past year?”

Brace yourself. In Missouri, you will not like the response to your question 66% of the time (at a minimum).

State’s Capacity Survey

In 2014, 33% (550 of 1,680) of the public drinking water systems responded to the State’s biennial Technical, Managerial, and Financial (TMF) Capacity Survey.

State’s Capacity Survey

33% of State’s drinking water systems responded(550 of 1,680)

21% of State’s drinking water system respondents were public entities (cities, towns, villages, and county water districts).(358 of 1,680)

State’s Capacity Survey

Of the 358 drinking water system respondents that are public entities:

136 = Public entities have water losses greater than 10%.(38% of them)

101 = Public entities have not determined their water losses.(28% of them)

State’s Capacity Survey

Of the 358 drinking water system respondents that are public entities:

237 = Public entities have water losses greater than 10% or do not know the extent of their losses.

That’s a whopping 66%.

State’s Capacity Survey

Of the 358 public entities responding to the survey, 44 have potable water losses greater than 20%.(12% of the systems)

Of the 190 small municipalities (serving less than 3,500 people) responding to the survey, 37 have potable water losses greater than 20%.(19% of the systems)

Who Will Develop the Courage to Fix These Leaks?

The Suburban RatepayerPolitical History: “They say the only difference between a hockey Mom and a pit bull is lipstick”.

[Governor Sara Palin2008 Vice Presidential Candidate]

Ratepayers will eventually “demand” accountability. If you work for a public utility, choose to get ahead of this “demand” curve.

You Interested? Go to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) new website called

“Cutting Our Losses”

Cutting Our Losses

State Policies to Track and Reduce Leakage from Public Water Systems

Let’s Talk You &Your Wastewater Utility

YOULast time…Let’s play “What If”?

What if YOU were at a City Council meeting and had the opportunity to ask … demand… that the City make a measureable improvement in one area in your City’s wastewater service…

What would YOU demand?

YOUYOU ask the Mayor: “Ya’ know Mayor, I was

out walking my dog I saw this (YOU hold up your phone; it has one of the following pictures on it)”.

Then you say…“I am concerned about the City’s wastewater system; could you please tell me, in general, how is our system performing; and then specifically, how is it performing when it is raining?”

Quit Covering the Assets with Asphalt!

Quit Covering the Assets with Asphalt!

Quit Covering the Assets with Asphalt!

Thank You !Phil Walsack

Missouri Public Utility Alliance1808 I-70 Drive SW

Columbia, MO 65203573-445-3279

[email protected]