The summer season is a good time to reflect on the importance of and need for outdoor water conservation in the NWPA region. Outdoor water use, particularly in the summer months, can account for up to 30 percent of your household’s total water use. This presents a significant opportunity to reduce outdoor water use and protect the region’s water supplies. Outdoor watering can lead to higher water and energy costs, deplete vital water sources, and contribute to pollution by carrying lawn and landscape chemicals into nearby water bodies. Additionally, excessive outdoor water use can stress water utilities, especially during the summer when demand peaks. To meet increased demand, utilities often expand their infrastructure capacity, which can be costly. The NWPA, in collaboration with various partners, has developed several resources to help residents reduce outdoor water use. These include a regional lawn watering ordinance, an outdoor water conservation manual, and educational brochures on water-efficient landscape practices like establishing a new lawn from seed or sod. These materials provide practical tips and tools to reduce water use while maintaining attractive landscapes. Reducing the amount of water used for outdoor watering can also lower peak demand, potentially delaying or eliminating the need for costly expansions. This, in turn, helps avoid passing these costs on to ratepayers. One of the NWPA resources worth highlighting is the regional lawn watering ordinance, which can help communities take a comprehensive approach to outdoor water conservation. The model ordinance limits outdoor watering to certain days and hours, prohibits establishing new seed and sod during summer months, prohibits the watering of sidewalks to reduce water waste, offers watering exemptions when water-efficient practices or technologies like drip irrigation or WaterSense devices are used, and empowers mayors or managers to issue an emergency proclamation and further regulate or prohibit water use in the event of diminished water supply caused by a prolonged dry period or drought, increased water demand, equipment failure, or water quality concerns. The ordinance also applies these regulations year-round to maximize conservation benefits. Although many NWPA communities have adopted parts of the ordinance in some capacity, such as setting hours and day limitations for outdoor watering, there is a need for more communities to fully adopt the model ordinance. NWPA members are encouraged to revisit the model ordinance this summer and consider its full adoption. Embracing outdoor water conservation practices like those outlined in the ordinance will help NWPA communities collectively ensure the long-term sustainability of the region’s shared water supplies. For the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced federal regulations on a class of synthetic chemicals known as “forever chemicals” in drinking water. PFAS, or per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, are chemicals that persist in the environment for long periods of time and pose significant health risks, including cancer and other serious illnesses. These chemicals are used in industry and consumer products such as nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, and stain- resistant furniture.
To mitigate the health risks associated with PFAS, the EPA established nationwide drinking water limits – also known as Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for five individual PFAS chemicals: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA (known as GenX Chemicals). The EPA also set a Hazard Index level for two or more of four PFAS as a mixture: PFNA, PFHxS, HFPO-DA, and PFBS. The rule aims to significantly reduce PFAS levels in drinking water across the United States, benefiting approximately 100 million Americans. Across the nation, communities with drinking water utilities will need to comply with these regulations within the next five years. Water utilities have three years to conduct sampling and monitor for specific PFAS compounds and levels to determine if further action is warranted. By 2027, communities will need to inform the public of any detected PFAS levels in their drinking water. If levels exceed the established MCLs, water utilities have until 2029 to implement solutions to remove PFAS through treatment technologies, such as granular activated carbon, ion exchange or high-pressure membrane filtration, or find an alternative water source to reach concentrations below the MCL and hazard index levels. NWPA communities that rely on the Fox River and shallow sand and gravel aquifer systems for drinking water may be impacted by the new regulations. In 2020 and 2021, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) conducted statewide sampling to measure PFAS at entry points to public water supply and distribution systems. Broadly, the sampling effort detected PFAS at various entry points near the Fox River and shallow wells within the NWPA region. Although water utilities will still need to monitor PFAS over the next three years, the IEPA website provides a summary and interactive map of the 2020-2021 sampled PFAS measurements, giving communities and their water utilities a glimpse at how PFAS levels may affect them. The scale at which these new regulations may impact communities will ultimately depend on if and at what levels PFAS are detected, the types of PFAS detected (applicable treatment technology varies on the PFAS class), and the water utility’s ability to pursue the most effective solutions within five years. Financial support for PFAS issues is available through the EPA's Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities (EC-SDC) grants, a program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Additionally, the IEPA Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program is providing financial assistance for PFAS-related projects. DWSRF programs function like infrastructure banks by providing low-interest loans and, in some cases, principal forgiveness loans, to eligible recipients for drinking water infrastructure projects. The DWSRF had $32.7M set aside for emerging contaminant principal forgiveness loans in FY24. FY25 and FY26 are currently projected to include up to $32.8M and 38.0M in principal forgiveness loans, respectively. It should be noted that caps likely will be established on the 100% principal forgiveness loans based on the number of applicant communities. Learn more about PFAS regulations and resources here. Mark your calendars for EPA's annual Fix a Leak Week, which takes place March 18 through 24, 2024. The commemorative week is a yearly reminder to inspect and fix leaks around the home to save valuable water and money. According to the EPA, indoor and outdoor household leaks can waste nearly one trillion gallons of water annually nationwide. Common leaks include worn toilet flaps, dripping faucets or appliances, as well as outdoor irrigation equipment. Checking and addressing these leaks can effectively conserve available water resources and save homeowners money on their water bills.
Water loss within the home is common among communities with older homes and fixtures. Replacing older fixtures, such as showerheads, toilets, and faucets, with more water-efficient ones can be a cost-effective and reliable strategy for reducing leaks and overall indoor residential water use. According to the Alliance for Water Efficiency’s 2016 Residential End Use of Water Study, indoor household water use could drop by 35 percent or more if all devices in a household were high-efficiency devices, such as WaterSense-labeled products. To encourage homeowners to retrofit their fixtures, communities can offer incentives or rebates for residents who replace their devices with more water-efficient ones. An example of this approach can be seen through the City of Joliet’s water conservation incentive program and low-flow toilet rebate program. Outdoor irrigation systems can also be a potential source of outdoor water leaks. Fix a Leak Week is a great time to check in-ground irrigation systems and make sure that there is no damage from frost or freezing temperatures before using them in the spring. WaterSense-certified professionals can help detect and fix these leaks. To further improve outdoor water efficiency, households can install hardware like WaterSense-labeled irrigation controllers, which use local weather and soil conditions to adjust watering schedules. These are just a few ways NWPA communities and individuals can start to address leaks and conserve water in their homes. For more helpful resources on addressing leaks and improving indoor and outdoor water efficiency, check out the EPA Fix a Leak Week website and resources from the NWPA. January 2024 kicks off the second year of the NWPA's initiative to develop a water supply sustainability plan for the NWPA region. Over a century of water use from northern Illinois' deep sandstone aquifers has led to declining water levels, as more water has been withdrawn than naturally replaced. At the same time, road salt, PFAs, and other contaminants threaten the reliability of shallow groundwater and river water sources. Against this backdrop, the NWPA saw the need for a plan that could help NWPA communities extend the life of the region's water resources and provide sustainable water supplies for future generations.
With assistance from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) and funding support from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the NWPA embarked on a two-year process to create a water supply sustainability plan. Using the latest groundwater science to account for the current state of the region’s water supply, the plan will identify water conservation strategies that communities can voluntarily take to manage supply and work toward the long-term sustainable use of water resources in the NWPA area. In 2023, CMAP and IISG worked with the NWPA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and Executive Committee to establish a plan vision, draft water sustainability goals, and prioritize several water conservation strategies for the plan’s consideration. The project team also began evaluating the potential water savings and implementation feasibility for some of the prioritized strategies, including residential retrofits and outdoor watering efficiencies. With the plan’s completion scheduled for December 2024, the project team will continue to evaluate the remaining prioritized water conservation strategies and seek the NWPA’s input on which strategies to include in the plan. The remaining strategies will cover water supply systems, the commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) sector, and information and education. The team will also conduct a combined impacts assessment to evaluate how the implementation of the full set of strategies could advance the NWPA’s vision and goals. We urge members and other water utility experts to join this year’s NWPA TAC meetings to actively engage in the planning process. Meetings are on the 4th Thursday of every month. Sign up for the 2024 TAC meeting calendar here! Each winter, the Chicago region uses more than 270,000 tons of road salt to control ice on roads, parking lots, and sidewalks. While maintaining public safety is absolutely necessary, the amount of salt used is excessive and is polluting our drinking water. Once salt is put down, it doesn’t just disappear. Instead, it enters bodies of water and accumulates over time, which impacts aquatic life and pollutes drinking water.
The good news is that most counties or municipalities already have salt reduction programs in place for roads they manage. For example, the McHenry County Division of Transportation uses trucks with a computerized dispensing system, which places the optimal amount of salt on the surface. They also use different techniques and materials, such as salt brine, to reduce the amount of salt used. However, aside from practices used by public agencies, there are other surfaces, such as sidewalks and parking lots, that require salting in the winter and are serviced by private contractors. Until recently, there were few sensible salting practices for private contractors. Recognizing the need for additional resources, the NWPA partnered with The Conservation Foundation to develop a best practices manual for parking lots and sidewalks and establish a training and certification program through the Salt Smart Collaborative. As part of this effort, The Conservation Foundation launched the Salt Smart Certified program for parking lots and sidewalks this past fall. The program provides training and certification for anyone tasked with maintaining these surfaces, including contractors, business owners, park districts, municipalities, school districts, or libraries. These trainings are a first step in the certification process. So far, there have been two virtual workshops and one in-person workshop in McHenry County focused on Salt Smart practices. Over 400 people have participated in the three trainings, and two contractors have been certified. The Salt Smart Collaborative is hosting another virtual training session on December 8, 2023. In addition to the training sessions, the Conservation Foundation is launching “lunch & learn” presentations for property managers, which focus on how Salt Smart practices can provide safe surfaces and protect facility infrastructure. Along with the presentations, property managers have access to a booklet with Salt Smart best management practices. If your community is interested in participating in or getting more information about these programs, please contact Jennifer Hammer at The Conservation Foundation at [email protected]. While northeastern Illinois borders Lake Michigan and many communities enjoy access to Great Lakes water, the majority of the NWPA region relies on groundwater and the Fox River for its drinking water. Managing water use, especially outdoor water use, is essential to ensure the long-term sustainability of the NWPA region’s water resources.
Watering your lawn can account for nearly 30 percent of a household’s total water use, which tends to increase in the summer months. Outdoor water conservation can play a key role in reducing water use and promoting a more sustainable approach to lawn and garden care. To help communities reduce outdoor water use, the NWPA created a regional lawn watering ordinance that provides guidance on outdoor water conservation. Key elements of the ordinance include:
The ordinance provides an opportunity to promote collective action that cuts back on nonessential water use. Taking steps to conserve water outdoors can help protect the region’s long-term water supply for future generations. Learn more about NWPA’s outdoor water conservation resources here. Despite this year’s mild winter, NWPA members and partners made significant strides to salt sensibly and educate communities and the public about the effects of excessive road salt use on water resources. Kane County recently reported that the mild winter and smarter salting practices resulted in savings on salt, overtime pay, and fuel costs for the County’s Department of Transportation.
Each winter, the Chicago region uses more than 270,000 tons of road salt to control ice on roads, parking lots, and sidewalks. Although ensuring transportation safety during the winter months is necessary, the excessive use of road salt is impairing our region’s water quality. Practicing sensible salting during the winter months, even during a mild winter season, is an important strategy for improving the quality of surface water and groundwater resources in the NWPA area. Once you put salt down, it does not go away or break down. Instead, it enters and accumulates in waterbodies over time, putting aquatic life at risk, impacting vegetation, and threatening water supplies. To protect our shared water resources, it’s important to practice sensible salting. There are several resources and initiatives that can help NWPA member communities salt sensibly. Last year, the NWPA, in partnership with the Salt Smart Collaborative, developed a Winter Maintenance Manual. The manual helps private contractors and owners of larger parking lots use best practices and reduce the impacts of salt use on water resources. Multiple NWPA county members have also developed their own sensible salting manuals, including the McHenry County Snow and Ice Control Handbook and the Lake County Winter Parking Lot and Sidewalk Maintenance Manual. In addition to these resources, the “Salt Smart and You” exhibit has been traveling around the Schaumburg Township Library, Gail Borden Public Library, Aurora Public Library, and the Joliet Public Library over the last several months. The exhibit, created by the NWPA Sensible Salting Subcommittee and the Conservation Foundation, focused on educating the public on sensible salting and the impacts of excessive road salt use on our water resources. Learn more about NWPA’s sensible salting efforts here and help protect the quality of our shared water resources. With support from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has partnered with the Northwest Water Planning Alliance and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) to develop a water supply sustainability plan for the NWPA region. Later this year, the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) will release sustainable yield values for each water source by county. This data will, for the first time, identify the amount of water that can be withdrawn from each water source sustainably. The Water Supply Sustainability Plan will use the yield values to explore voluntary water conservation strategies that could help establish a path toward long-term sustainable use of water resources in the NWPA area. Additionally, the plan will serve as a model to encourage municipalities in other parts of the region and state to develop their own water sustainability plans.
CMAP and IISG will work with the NWPA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and Executive Committee (EC) throughout the plan’s development. Together, they will develop a water sustainability goal for the area that is informed by the ISWS sustainable yield estimates. The team will then evaluate the potential water savings of different conservation strategies and assess how effective their implementation could be toward meeting their sustainability goals. Potential strategies could include active and passive water conservation actions, such as reducing water loss, metering with volumetric rates, reusing water, retrofitting plumbing, and upgrading appliances to water-efficient models. The expertise of NWPA members, as well as water conservation and demand management experts, will help guide the selection of feasible strategies and set appropriate implementation timelines. The involvement and expertise of municipal staff in the NWPA area will be critical to the plan’s success. By attending the NWPA TAC meetings, municipal staff can help guide the development and evaluation of strategies and ensure the selected strategies can help the area achieve a long-term sustainable water supply. To maintain a sustainable water supply in the NWPA region (see map below), we need your help. Join an upcoming NWPA Technical Advisory Committee meeting to get involved in the planning process. With summer just around the corner, it’s important to keep water conservation in mind. Outdoor water use can account for 30 percent of your household’s total water use, while approximately two-thirds of household water consumption takes place indoors. Toilets, showers, and faucets are considered the largest indoor household water users. Older homes may have outdated fixtures that are inefficient and prone to leakage. Water conservation is an important component of ensuring a sustainable water supply in the future. In this month’s newsletter, we’re spotlighting Jodie Wollnik, Director of the Kane County Environmental & Water Resources Department, and her journey to reduce water use in her own household. What is your current role and how long have you been in your position? I am the Director of the Kane County Environmental & Water Resources Department. Our department manages the Sustainability, Recycling/Solid Waste, Stormwater Management, Floodplain, Wetlands and Water Supply Planning programs for the County. I have worked at Kane County for 15 years. Tell us a bit more about your role in water supply planning. My role in water supply planning began very early on, with what was likely one of the very first versions of Modflow, which we used in college to model a network of wells for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in upper Michigan. While I had a conscious awareness of the amount of water I used for a very long time, I know that my experience in Ethiopia and Peru really set the wheels in motion. In Gondar, Ethiopia to conserve water, the water system is frequently turned off and guests are supplied with a bucket of water to use until the system was turned back on. In Ollantaytambo, Peru, the rapidly shrinking glacier is a stark reminder of a water supply that will completely disappear in less than a generation. I began my career at the County under Paul Schuch who led the charge on the early modeling of Kane County’s water supply with Illinois State Water Survey. Since Paul’s early successes in water supply planning for Kane County, we have continued his legacy through water conservation education and outreach, water quality studies of our shallow groundwater resources, and planning for a water modeling effort. Our recent Campton & Sugar Grove Township partnerships have provided invaluable data using the Wellntel systems deployed at residential homes.
Tell us a bit about your journey to reduce water use in your own household, what inspired you? I would say my travels overseas and experiencing the daily struggle so many people face to provide their homes with a single gallon or two of water a day. You realize that the volume of water we use as Americans on a daily basis is unfathomable to a large percentage of the world. Especially when you consider that we are designing our water systems for 100 gallons per person per day, and our conservation efforts are 64 gallons per person per day. I don’t think a lot of people realize how much water that really is visually. We are hovering around 20 gallons per person per day currently at my house. When did you start your water conservation efforts, and what types of changes have you made? We started working on our 1960’s era house 24 years ago. We started by re-thinking our water use and being consciously aware of what water we were using. At first, it was simple changes like parking our car on the grass if we were going to wash it, using dehumidifier water to water plants, capturing the cold water from the shower in a bucket while the water warmed up and using that water for the garden, and investing in a rain barrel. When an appliance needed replacing, we made sure to choose the lowest water and energy use models. Finally, we replaced all the faucets, toilets, and showers with low water use models. Today we are focused on behaviors. Instead of washing our pots and pans, we have switched to loading them in the dishwasher. Love the meatloaf commercial that helps encourage everyone in this practice! We are also busy trying to keep our teenagers honest with their shower time. What made the biggest impact in reducing your water use and encouraging behavioral changes? I think this is different for everyone, but for us, it was the age of our house and the outdated, high water use fixtures and appliances that we replaced. We were able to make the change over many years to lessen the financial impact, and now we are seeing the benefits with lower water, sewer, and gas bills. Given your experience, do you have any tips/lessons learned for someone that wants to reduce indoor water use? The standard response would be to start small. It is true that small changes can make a big difference over time. But I think what really motivates behavior changes is being aware of what your water use is and what your conversation goal should be. I always encourage people to look at their water bill, calculate what their usage is and compare that to the 64 gallons per capita per day (gpcd) conservation goal. I like to relay a story from the City of Batavia, where staff presented the City’s aldermen with a list of their electric usage with the names redacted. Of course, everyone wanted to know what number was theirs! One of the aldermen was so impacted by knowing how high their energy use was compared to others, that they went home that night and changed out all their lightbulbs to low energy use ones. The same holds true with water use, unless you know how much you are using, and have something to compare it to, it is difficult to know how you are doing. Where can someone find more resources and information about water conservation? Resources are available on the Clean Water for Kane web page. Drinking water supplies provide an essential service to our communities. Over a century of water use from northern Illinois’ deep sandstone aquifers has led to declining water levels, as more water has been withdrawn than naturally replaced. Population growth and industrial development, as well as climate change will lead to increasing withdrawals from constrained groundwater resources unless action is taken.
To address these water supply issues, the Northwest Water Planning Alliance is currently seeking funding to create a Water Supply Sustainability Plan. The first of its kind for the Chicago region, the Water Supply Sustainability Plan will use newly available ISWS sustainable yield estimates for each water source to develop a regional water supply sustainability goal. Sustainable yield represents how much water can be withdrawn, where and for how long, with acceptable physical, economic, environmental, social, cultural, institutional, and legal consequences. The plan will identify voluntary recommendations to establish a path towards long-term sustainable use of water resources in the NWPA area. The NWPA is seeking to partner with Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), Illinois Water Survey (ISWS), and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) to develop the plan. The partners will help evaluate the potential water savings of different strategies and assess how effective their implementation could be toward meeting the sustainability goal. Building the plan For the Water Supply Sustainability Plan to be successful, involvement and expertise of NWPA members will be a critical component of the planning process. NWPA members would play a vital role in developing and evaluating strategies that can help the area achieve a long-term sustainable water supply. Potential, voluntary strategies will be reviewed and selected by NWPA’s Technical Advisory Committee and members will be called upon to provide information on how specific strategies are currently being used in the NWPA area. Potential recommendations could include active and passive water conservation strategies, such as reducing water loss, metering with volumetric rates, reusing water, as well as retrofitting plumbing and upgrading appliances to water efficient models. The process will engage members in evaluating how a specific strategy can contribute to the overall sustainable water supply goal, and how it can be feasibly implemented by an individual municipality. In addition to working with members, NWPA will enlist water conservation and demand management experts such as the Alliance for Water Efficiency and U.S. EPA WaterSense, to participate in the committee sessions. These experts can help the project team select feasible strategies and set appropriate implementation timelines. With NWPA’s assistance, the Water Supply Sustainability Plan will provide a shared vision and voluntary strategies to promote long-term sustainability of water resources currently being used by NWPA members. It could also be used as a resource for individual municipal plans and could provide a model for other areas of the state. To maintain a sustainable water supply in the NWPA region, we need your help. Join an upcoming NWPA Technical Advisory Committee meeting to get involved. |
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