NEWS

City of Charlottesville Wins the 2022 WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized the City of Charlottesville with a 2022 WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award, the highest level of program recognition, for its commitment to promoting WaterSense and water efficiency in 2021. The City of Charlottesville was recently recognized along with 33 other utilities, manufacturers, builders, retailers, and other organizations that partner with WaterSense for its work in promoting water-efficient products, homes, and programs.

WaterSense honored the City of Charlottesville as a Sustained Excellence Award winner for a fifth year in a row and eighth year of receiving a WaterSense award. Highlighted programs and community engagement efforts by Charlottesville’s Water Conservation Program in 2021 include:

• Issued 149 toilet rebates estimated to save more than 1.39 million gallons of water per year!
• Held a virtual Fix a Leak campaign which included a Home Scavenger Hunt to help the community get to know their water fixtures, a Rivanna Scavenger Hunt along the Rivanna River learning about finding and fixing leaks, and a virtual Fix a Leak Family 5K. 
• Held a virtual “Imagine a Day without Water” campaign and art contest with the theme “Love Our Water”, which had 224 art submissions and YouTube video announcing the winners. 
• Collaborated with local partners, Community Climate Collaborative and Virginia Discovery Museum, to deliver 400 climate action kits to the Walker Upper Elementary fifth grade class on Earth Day, which included a toilet leak detection activity.

For more information about WaterSense and the 2022 award winners, visit www.epa.gov/watersense.

Charlottesville Water Conservation Program Receives Regional Recognition in Public Information  

The Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association (VA AWWA) recognized the City of Charlottesville Water Conservation Program with two 2022 Public Information Awards in the water awareness and education and the social media categories.

The Water Awareness and Education Award recognizes the Program’s 2021 Imagine a Day without Water Art Contest to raise awareness about water to K – 12th graders. The Water Conservation Program is getting prepared for its 2022 Imagine a Day without Water Art Contest in partnership with Albemarle County Service Authority and Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority. The 2022 art contest kicks off September 28th and youth have until October 31st to artistically show why and how they value and save water in our community. 

The Social Media Award recognizes the Water Conservation Program’s dedication to communication to the Charlottesville community using social media to raise awareness about water. The primary goal of the program’s social media outreach is to education the Charlottesville community and provide them helpful tips, resources, and behavior changes posting a minimum of weekly on a relevant and important topic. Keep an eye out for the program’s weekly “Water Tip Wednesday” of “#WTW” posts on the Water Conservation Facebook Page, Charlottesville Green City Instagram Page (@CvilleGreenCity), and Public Work’s Twitter Account (@CvillePW). 

The City of Charlottesville was honored at the VA AWWA Membership Appreciation and Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, September 14th, 2022 at the WaterJAM conference in Virginia Beach along with other localities and organizations. 

For more information about the Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association Public Information Awards, visit www.vaawwa.org/page/public-information-awards. 

Energy and Water Management in Charlottesville City Schools

Charlottesville City Schools and the City’s Energy and Water Management Team are working together to reduce the energy and water footprint of all City schools. On April 11th, 2019 the School Board approved an Energy and Water Performance resolution, showing a commitment to achieving and maintaining high performing school facilities. 

Continuing on past efforts, the City’s maintenance and development teams are specifying high efficiency building equipment, such as high-efficiency chillers and LED lighting, and are enhancing operational control through advanced building automation systems. Charlottesville Schools and the City’s Energy and Water Management Team continue to investigate ways to accelerate the installation of high performance equipment throughout our schools.

The City is also working with each school to raise awareness about energy and water saving practices through education and outreach efforts that include distributing educational materials and providing tips and strategies that students and faculty can use to reduce the energy and water impact at our schools. 

Each quarter a different theme emphasizes aspects of energy and water efficiency/conservation. Check out all the great outreach efforts and materials on the City's Energy and Water Management Program Outreach and Engagement website (LINK).

Read more about the City’s Energy and Water Management Program on their web page.