Fix A Leak Week Surpasses Expectations

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) WaterSense program celebrated the fourth annual Fix a Leak Week from March 12 through March 18, and featured projects that will help consumers save water and money across the country.

In nine cities throughout the country events were held by WaterSense 2011 Manufacturer Partner of the Year Delta Faucet Company to help fix leaks in low-income households and community facilities. Delta worked with EPA regional offices and the Green Plumbers, United Way, Ronald McDonald House, and various water utilities and city governments to replace leaky toilet flappers and install WaterSense labeled showerheads and faucet aerators.

Other WaterSense partners around the country staged events to help consumers find and fix leaks. Here are some highlights:

The West Virginia Public Service Commission deputized Charleston fourth and fifth graders as “leak detectives” to find leaks in their homes.
Volunteers from churches in Athens, Georgia and University of Georgia-Athens faith-based organizations performed leak audits for community organizations and educated residents on how to fix leaks in their homes.
Central Arkansas Water offered free leak repairs for low-income customers identified through billing software, as well as free WaterSense labeled showerheads and rain gauges for customers who stopped by the utility’s offices. Central Arkansas Water and the Arkansas Cooperative Extension service conducted home sprinkler audits and demonstrated how to check sprinklers for leaks.
Cary, North Carolina, distributed dye tablets to help residents find silent toilet leaks and published an online Toilet Training Tutorial with common toilet leaks and tips for repairs. Cary’s Fix a Leak Week website features “Beat the Peak,” an interactive water conservation game to teach kids about saving water.
Plumbers in Banks, Oregon, gave customers the first half hour of leak-fixing labor free, if the customer mentioned Fix a Leak Week.
Colorado Springs Utilities distributed WaterSense labeled showerheads and faucet aerators to customers.
Arizona Municipal Water Users Association held its second four-mile race to fix leaks featuring a running toilet, Leaky Loo McFlapper, and leak-fixing demonstrations.

Fix a Leak Week also generated tremendous buzz in the social media world. EPA’s WaterSense staff kicked off the week with its first-ever live chat on the social media platform Twitter on March 12. More than 100 WaterSense partners and supporters participated in the chat, generating 400 total Tweets about fixing leaks in one hour and causing the Twitter keyword, or hashtag, “fixaleak” to become the second-most popular phrase on Twitter in the United States that afternoon. Leading up to and during the week, the “fixaleak” hashtag was used more than 1,000 times as participants discussed the importance of saving water, how to find and fix leaks, and what they were doing to celebrate the week.

For more information about Fix a Leak Week visit: http://www.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/fix_a_leak.html

You can continue to save water where you work, play and learn with help from WaterSense. Learn more today: http://www.epa.gov/watersense/index.html