Our Work

The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) partners with our members and other organizations to produce the research, tools, resources, and information they need to advance water efficiency in their communities. Our work has helped water professionals seize new opportunities, uncover challenges, and break down barriers to achieve sustainable water use. To get involved and help define the work we do, join the AWE network today.

2019

2019 Annual Report Cover

2019 was a year of production. AWE released studies, reports, manuals, handbooks, user guides, and webinars.

We successfully mobilized our community to help ensure a place for EPA’s WaterSense program in the FY2020 national budget.

We collaborated with Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI) to establish strict guidelines for installing multiple showerheads in a single stall, thus closing a significant loophole in codes and ensuring effective water efficiency standards.

AMI Manual Cover

With AMI, water utilities can dramatically streamline their meter-to-cash operations while simultaneously enhancing customer service. AMI also provides a quantum increase in data useful for managing non-revenue water, conservation programs, distribution system operation, capital planning and rate setting. AMI can be the backbone for other “smart utility” and “smart city” applications.

national practical plumbing handbook cover

The California Water Efficiency Partnership and the Alliance for Water Efficiency have updated and redesigned the national edition of the Practical Plumbing Handbook, an excellent resource on how to repair and perform preventative maintenance on the fixtures in your home.

The Handbook is a member-only benefit and is available only in hardcopy form for distribution to consumers. We are now accepting orders.

The Alliance for Water Efficiency's (AWE) Landscape Transformation Study found that consumers are ready for sustainable, water-efficient landscapes—but they need help from their water providers.

There is great interest in evaluating products and processes for their contribution to a more sustainable future and particularly as they might contribute to overall water efficiency.

water loss supplement cover

This report focuses exclusively on the water loss portion of the 2017 Water Efficiency and Conservation State Scorecard: An Assessment of Laws. All 50 states were ranked based on state laws promoting water loss control. These ranks are displayed in a map, indicating which states have strong water loss control laws and where there is opportunity for improvement.

landscape transformation executive summary cover

The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) initiated its Outdoor Water Savings Research Initiative in 2015 to identify and clarify what programs, practices, and irrigation technologies can support effective utility-driven outdoor water efficiency programs.

2018

2018 has been a fabulous year for us at the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE). Our years of hard work are bearing fruit in building partnerships and highlighting our ongoing efforts to provide cutting-edge research and technical assistance. Our members tell us that we are making a difference...Making a difference is why we exist. It is gratifying to see our efforts working in so many geographies and with so many partners.

 

Colorado river basin regional scorecard cover

This report takes a closer look at the results of the 2017 AWE report, "The Water Efficiency and Conservation State Scorecard: An Assessment of Laws" for the seven Colorado River Basin states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.  It recognizes successes, and identifies opportunities where laws and programs can be strengthened to advance the sustainable use of water in the Colorado River Basin.

 

The Texas Municipal Water Conservation Planning Tool  is an Excel-based model developed to assist Texas water utilities with their water conservation planning and reporting, and regional water planning groups with development of their municipal conservation water management strategies. It contains pre-loaded water demand projections for 462 Texas municipal water systems and include

LADWP rates conservation report cover

Are Los Angeles ratepayers better off by conserving water over the long term? That’s the question explored in a new study released by AWE and the California Water Efficiency Partnership (CalWEP) in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).

2017

2017 annual report cover

2017 was a landmark year for us at AWE. We completed a year-long process of negotiating, creating legal frameworks, and strategic planning to lay the groundwork for the California Water Efficiency Partnership to become the Alliance for Water Efficiency’s first-ever state chapter. There is great synergy in the work of both organizations, and we will be stronger by having an explicit and cooperative platform for working together.

2017 water efficiency conservation scorecard cover

The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) and the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) have released a five-year update to the 2012 Water Efficiency and Conservation State Scorecard: An Assessment of Laws and Policies. As with the 2012 State Scorecard, the 2017 update reviewed, scored, graded states for laws supporting water conservation and efficiency. In addition, the 2017 report added a new component for climate resiliency planning and performed a parallel evaluation, scoring, and grading process.

transforming water report cover

The Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) has prepared a position paper titled, Transforming Water: Water Efficiency as Infrastructure Investment. The paper quantitatively examines the short-term economic growth impacts of water efficiency investments, specifically in terms of job creation, income, GDP, national output, water savings, and other benefits. For example: 

Report cover

If you read the economic projections from the Dallas Fed or the Annual Economic Outlook from Texas A&M, the focus will be on the energy sector rebound from low oil prices, and manufacturing jobs, and housing starts. But water is behind all of those jobs — whether for oil exploration and production, steam electric generation or cooling for manufacturing, or the growing appetite for water in new homes and neighborhoods. And how much water Texas has — and will continue to have — shapes our economic growth.

California water policy challenge stakeholder outreach cover

Bridging the Gap Between Water Innovation and Regulation in California: Stakeholder Outreach in the State of California

The Alliance for Water Efficiency and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission convened three stakeholder workshops on the topic of decentralized onsite non-potable water system and the development of a statewide policy. Feedback garnered during and directly following the workshops is contained in this report. Included is a copy of the draft model state regulation for onsite-non-potable water systems. 

 

The Alliance for Water Efficiency’s (AWE) Water: What You Pay For video is an animated video that seeks to communicate the value of water service, by explaining why safe drinking water has a cost.

This short video explains the least customers should know about the water that they not only love, but need to survive! It describes the water service a typical residential water bill covers, and the costs of delivering a consistent, reliable flow of safe and affordable drinking water to faucets.

peak day water demand management study cover

Grabbing a page from the energy efficiency playbook, a new report from the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) describes an innovative load shifting experiment carried out during the summer of 2016 by New Jersey American Water (NJAW), Rachio, and WaterDM.

Arizona avoided costs studies covers

Water conservation has helped keep water rates lower in two U.S. communities, according to new research released by the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE). 

saturation study cover

Water-efficient toilets could potentially save up to 170 billion potable gallons of water per year across five states facing water scarcity, according to new research released today by the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE) and Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI).

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