News
July 1, 2008
Water Conservation Contest Winner Introduced To City Council
Claire Hester, winner of the water conservation contest sponsored by Clear Channel Communication and the City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department, was introduced at the July 1 City Council meeting.
On March 3, the Public Utilities and Clear Channel Communications began a water conservation contest that compared a contestant's water consumption from the most recent billing cycle to the same time in 2007. The contest ran for two months and was advertised on all area Clear Channel-owned radio stations.
Out of the hundreds of contestants entered, Ms. Hester showed the greatest reduction from the same billing cycle last year with a savings of eight CCFs or 6,000 gallons (3,000 gallons per month). Ms. Hester won a trip to her choice of destinations such as San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. Ms. Hester is a native of Raleigh, and is a budget intern with the City's Administrative Services Department.
To conserve water, Ms. Hester put empty liter bottles in all toilet tanks to reduce amount of water used per flush, collected shower water in a bucket (as it heats) to reuse for flushing toilets and used the washing machine about half as often.
Additional steps she took to conserve water use included spot-cleaning garments rather than throwing everything in the laundry hamper, not washing her car, turning off water when shampooing/soaping/washing hands/brushing teeth and reducing the number of showers by using products such as dry shampoo.
"Most of these are tips I gleaned from simply paying attention to the news stories about the drought and following the water conservation suggestions that were provided by the City of Raleigh, News and Observer and local news channels," said Ms. Hester.
"The overarching theme is that I really started to think about water as a limited resource rather than taking it for granted as an unlimited supply. Of course I've always been aware that I pay for my water, but for some reason I always assumed our local water supply was limitless. Once I knew that -- and once I realized how much money I was saving by reducing my usage -- I really started to watch what I was doing and ended up very surprised at how little water I really needed on a daily basis."
The City of Raleigh remains in Stage One water restrictions. For more information visit click here or call the Public Utilities Department at 857-4540
Prepared by:
Chris Riley
Senior Public Affairs Specialist
Public Affairs Department
For More Information Contact:
Ed Buchan
Water Conservation Specialist
Public Utilities Department
1 Exchange Plaza
Raleigh, NC 27601
919-857-4540
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