The ultimate in resource management is not to consume the resource in the first place. Unfortunately, the economic value of water and the consumer’s experiential understanding of where, when and how they consume water stands in the way. There is not enough information available to effect the real-time behavioral changes necessary to reduce consumption. Modern technologies and analytics are changing this and for the first time we have the ability to monitor and report water use in real-time, dramatically increasing the visibility of water, and providing the necessary feedback to achieve sustained conservation.

1. Advancing Resource
Recovery to the Left:
How Consumer
Information Drives
Conservation
Trevor Hill
President & CEO
Global Water Resources
4 October 2011

2. Altering Behavior
“A key to improving efficiency is
understanding where, when, and why
we use water.”
Source: P. Gleick, Roadmap for sustainable water resources in southwestern North America, PNAS, 14 Dec 2010

3. The Silent Service

4. Why Should We Care?
& POPULATION 14
By 2025, 1.8 billion of the world’s projected 8.9
12
billion people will be living in countries or
regions that are experiencing “absolute water 10
scarcity”, and two-thirds of the world population
8
could be under conditions of water stress
Population, billions
6
4
Population
2
0
Source: UN FAO (http://www.fao.org/nr/water/art/2008/wateruse.htm) and UN “World at Six Billion”

5. Where’s the
Water?

6. Triumphs of the Past

7. Reality of the Present
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009

8. Engineered Solutions must give way to
Collaborative Solutions that combine
infrastructure, incentives and information
to effect change

9. Models for the Future
“In the 20th century we built this water
system and it brings incredibly high
quality potable water to our homes,
and we use it to drink and to flush our
toilets and to water our lawns. It's a
crazy use of a wonderful resource.”
Peter Gleick, Fresh Air, WHYY, November 27, 2007

10. Infrastructure – Dual Reticulation

11. Water Efficiency of Recycled Water
Water Source Distribution
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3 0.16
Acre-Feet per DU per Year
0.12
0.25 0.27
Potable Water Use
0.2
0.38
0.11 0.11 Common Area Irrigation Recycled
0.15 Use (HOA/School etc)
0.1 Residential Recycled Water Use
(Irrigation)
0.05 0.11 0.10 0.10
0.048
0
Recycled Water
No Recycling Recycled Water for Recycled Water for Recycled Water for all
perpetually circulating
Common Area Irrigation Common Area & Irrigation & Toilet
in System
Residential Irrigation Flushing

12. Changing Behavior
“Truly sustainable water management and
use requires efficiency, smart economics,
advanced technology and better governance
and water management.”
Source: Dr. Peter Gleick, “The Real Cost of Water We Use”, presented at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, 9 Feb 2010

13. Changing Behavior
[…]interventions that combine appeals,
information, financial incentives, informal
social influences, and efforts to reduce the
transaction costs of taking the desired
RATES + INCENTIVES + DATA
actions have demonstrated synergistic
effects beyond the additive effects of
single policy tools.
Source: Dietz, T., Gardner, G., Gilligan, J., Stern, P.C., Vandenbergh, M.P., Household actions can provide a behavioral wedge to rapidly
reduce US carbon emissions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(44), pp. 18452-18456, 2009

14. Why Rates are Important
Source: Brett Walton “The Price of Water: A Comparison of Water Rates, Usage in 30 U.S. Cities”, April 26, 2010, Circle of Blue
Source: Oliver M Brandes et al, “Worth Every Penny: A Primer on Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing”, POLIS Water Sustainability Project, May 2010

15. Altering Behavior - Rates
Rate design offers the double anti-
oxymoron: price increases are consumer
protection, because:
1. price increases change behavior; and
2. behavior change yields lower total
costs.
Source: Scott Hempling, “Low Rates, High Rates, Wrong Rates, Right Rates”, National Regulatory Research Institute, 2009

16. The Effect of Rates
On average, a 10% increase in the marginal
cost of water can be expected to reduce
residential demand by 3-4% in the short run.
In the long term, such an increase could be
expected to yield a 6% decrease in demand.
Source: Sheila M. Olmstead and Robert N. Stavins, “Comparing price and nonprice approaches to urban water conservation”, 25 April 2009,
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, VOL. 45, W04301, doi:10.1029/2008WR007227, 2009 p. 4

17. As Rates Increase…
People will
demand the
information
necessary to
change their
behavior – and
save money
Source: Black & Veatch, 2009/2010 50 LARGEST CITIES WATER/WASTEWATER RATE SURVEY

18. Behavior Modification
CONSUMER COST REBATE THRESHOLD RATE DESIGN
Volumetric Rate
Discretionary Outdoor
Stick 35%
% of Revenue
Egregious User
Basic Outdoor
Cost
Excessive 1
Excessive 2
Basic Need
Carrot
Rebate Threshold
Base Rate 65%
Base Rate
Consumption Tier
Needs DATA

19. Smart Grid for Water
Utility
CIS CMMS
Information
Data
Consumers
SCADA
GIS

20. The Old Way
• Manual meter
reads once every
1, 6, 12 months
• Lost revenue
• Lost water
• Data
Gatekeepers

21. Deconstructing the Utility Monolith
DERIVING KNOWLEDGE
FROM DATA
Capture every drop of revenue
Maximize the efficiency of utility operations
Provide the basis for real-time conservation
Improve the Consumer Experience

22. The NEW Way
• Automated
Metering
Infrastructure
• Data Gateway
• Analytics

23. Transforming Data Into
Information
Collect Organize Decide/Query Act
Meter Read AMI Meter Read
Customer ID Customer Status
Location Address CIS Meter Usage
Meter ID
Real Time Report
Meter Usage > 0
Meter Location
GIS Customer Status = FINALLED
Meter Type
Meter Location
CMMS Work Order = Isolate

24. Improving the Consumer Experience
“Consumers want highly personalized
information and they want it at any time on any
device – Web, TV, print, smart phone.”
Source: Jesse Berst, “The six things utilities still don't get about consumers (but better learn fast!)”, Smart Grid News, Apr 5, 2011

25. DATA
How much water do I use?
How do I fare compared to my
street, my neighborhood, my city?
How much water should I use?
Based on weather data and
evapotranspiration calculations –
how much should I have used
outside?

26. Access to Data = Conservation
Real-time
Conservation

27. Impact of the New Paradigm

28. Results

29. “The path to sustainability lies in the hands
of our customers. We must give them the
data to make the right decisions.”