The Environmental Protection Agency has once again recognized Northern Water as a WaterSense Promotional Partner of the Year.
This year marks the third consecutive year recognizing Northern Water’s promotion of WaterSense. The organization was honored Oct. 6 during the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas along with 33 other awardees.
Northern Water, which provides water to Longmont, Broomfield and other cities and irrigators in northern Colorado, conducts water conservation activities throughout the year, including the Collaborative Water-Efficient Landscape Grant Program and its award-winning Conservation Gardens at its offices.
“Throughout 2021, our award-winning partners helped people protect this precious resource by promoting WaterSense labeled products and water-efficient behaviors,” Veronica Blette, chief of the WaterSense Branch of the EPA, said in a release. “Saving water is particularly critical in areas impacted by drought but is also a path to helping consumers stretch dollars by reducing their water and energy bills.”
Northern Water donated nearly 200 WaterSense labeled showerheads to the nonprofit Energy Resource Center for their retrofits of low-income housing. The organization also worked with WaterSense to assist in the creation of a homeowners association case study showing the value of irrigation professionals certified by a WaterSense labeled program and the use of the WaterSense Find a Pro tool.
To educate professionals on water-smart landscaping, Northern Water partnered with Colorado State University’s Horticulture Department to produce and co-host the Biennial Short Course, a half-day virtual workshop on landscape and horticulture. The organization also again collaborated with CSU, along with its Colorado Stormwater Center, to host three virtual trainings on how to reuse rainwater in a landscape, offered in English and Spanish totaling 470 viewers.
Last year, Northern Water launched a pilot commercial, industrial and institutional audit program to provide in-depth indoor water inspections for schools, municipal properties and office buildings. Auditors utilized the WaterSense commercial and institutional water assessment tool.
In 2021, nine properties participated in the pilot including six schools in the Thompson School District.
“We are honored to be recognized for a third year with this prestigious award,” said Esther Vincent, Director of Environmental Services at Northern Water. “Our partnership with WaterSense is critical to the water efficiency services we offer. It is a proven program with an established track record and credibility, and we look forward to many more years of collaboration.”
WaterSense is a voluntary partnership program sponsored by the EPA that serves as both a label for water-efficient products and a resource for helping consumers learn ways to save water. Since 2006, WaterSense partners have helped consumers and businesses save 6.4 trillion gallons of water.
