Best Practices & Restoration Projects
Water Conservation Framework
Participant Profile
Municipal Entity: Durham Region
Overview of water conservation plan:
- Water Efficient Durham (WED) established in 1996 as a way of reducing the economic and environmental costs of populationg growth. WED has been effective in improving water efficiency, particularly in the residential sector.
- In 2007, Durham will complete a four year project that will identify ways of enabling new home builders to build more water and energy efficient homes. Durham’s Water and Energy Efficient Demonstration Community features 88 homes that have efficient toilets, showerheads and ENERGY STAR appliances installed along with a xeriscape front garden. These homes are being monitored to determine the differences in water usage. The project will also quantify CO2 reductions. The project will be a model to exhibit how new homes can be built more water and energy efficient in the future.
Link to Region's water conservation website
Water conservation achievements to date:
- Durham has subsidized the replacement of over ten thousand inefficient 13L and 20L toilets, saving approximately 253,415m3 of water.
- Durham was the first Canadian jurisdiction to implement toiled truckload sales in partnership with local retailers in 2005.
- Other WED efforts include the distribution of 75,000 copies of the Household Guide to Water Efficiency, rain gauges to measure rain fall and irrigation (100,000) distributed and a one acre Water Efficient Demonstration Guide.
- Preliminary data from the Water and Energy Efficient Demonstration Community shows water use reductions by 22%, electricity reductions by 21% and natural gas reductions by 7%.
Contact person:
John Presta, P.Eng.
Director, Environmental Services
Works Department
905-668-4113
Return to list of Water Conservation Framework Participating Cities
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
Gary Becker, Mayor of Racine, Chair
Richard M. Daley, Mayor of Chicago, Founding United States Chair
David Miller, Mayor of Toronto, Founding Canadian Chair
www.glslcities.org
© 2006 Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative