Tampa Bay Water Wise is a regional water conservation rebate program designed to save water and offset building new water supplies. When Tampa Bay Water launched the program in March 2020, it calculated water savings based on the presumed water savings per fixture that was installed, but new billing data analyses show the amount of water saved per rebate is much higher for some projects.
Since its inception, Tampa Bay Water Wise has issued 2,458 rebates:
The University of Florida staff who support this program have analyzed billing data from four multi-family projects, comparing water bills from before and after high-efficiency toilets were installed. The presumed water savings for these four projects was 22,683 gallons per day (gpd), but the measured savings based on billing data is 93,358 gpd, more than quadruple the amount presumed. The difference in savings is substantial and other factors may have contributed to the difference. Some of the four projects implemented additional water-saving measures that were not funded by the program, old toilets tend to use more water than their rated flush volume, and water leakage issues are often resolved through fixture replacement. Tampa Bay Water and University of Florida staff are investigating other possible reasons for the larger-than-expected savings increase.
Staff will continue to monitor and investigate water savings based on billing data, but there’s a good chance this level of savings will be sustained and were accomplished because of the Tampa Bay Water Wise program.
Given this new information, Tampa Bay Water Wise has saved a total of 151,390 gpd since the program launched, with 105,126 gpd in Fiscal Year 2022 alone.
Supported by grant funding from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, Tampa Bay Water Wise offers 12 rebates for residential and non-residential customers who purchase or implement new water saving devices or measures. To learn more and see the available rebates, visit Tampa Bay Water Wise.
