LIHU‘E — The county’s Department of Water (DOW) expanded its local participation of national “Fix a Leak Week.”
The department distributed leak detection tools and information to more than 1,000 households from March 14 to 31, with the support of local grouos who joined DOW’s efforts to encourage others to check, fix and replace leaky fixtures and avoid wasting valuable drinking water.
“Thanks to our water partners, Tanaka Hardware Store and the Hawai’i Public Housing Authority, we were able to increase awareness in our communities and expand our reach to residents that receive water service as part of their rent, but do not directly receive a water bill,” said DOW’s Information and Education Specialist Jonell Kaohelauli‘i.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a leaking toilet could waste approximately 200 gallons of water per day; or 6,000 gallons of water per month, which is also the estimated monthly average water use of a single-family household.
By providing 323 leak detection starter kits and 756 leak detection toilet tablets to customers at no cost, DOW encouraged residents to check for toilet leaks and encourage repairs.
“If just 500 customers were able to find and fix their leaking toilet as a result of this effort, that’s a potential savings of approximately 3 million gallons of water that could be realized within a month,” DOW’s Manager and Chief Engineer Joseph Tait said in a release.
Tanaka Hardware Store partnered with DOW this year to host an in-store display and distributed 175 toilet tablets during the campaign.
“Our customers were curious and enthusiastic to use the leak detecting tablets,” said Lori Koga, manager at Tanaka Hardware Store.
The locally owned hardware store has agreed to continue offering the free toilet tablets throughout the year.
DOW also received interest from the Hawai’i Public Housing Authority (HPHA) and provided leak detection tablets for more than 350 homes from Kilauea to Kekaha.
“Hawai’i Public Housing Authority thanks the Department of Water for assisting our tenants with the tools to detect leaks that can cause excessive water use,” said Gary Gaines, Sr., HPHA’s Public Housing Supervisor V. “We believe in water conservation and doing our part to help Kaua’i in this effort and look forward to working the Department of Water on future efforts to save water.”
DOW’s toilet leak detection tablets are available in their main lobby throughout the year. Leak detection starter kits will be available upon request, while supplies last.
For more information, please call the Department of Water at 808-245-5461 or visit www.facebook.com/KauaiDOW.
