Success Stories

The Top 25 -- On November 1, 2007, the City of Villa Rica met with many of our major water using businesses. We made it clear that we intend to provide the example in water conservation and that we expect our major businesses to do likewise. Their response was enthusiastic and immediate.

For instance, Villa Rica's Home Depot immediately announced that they will be holding water conservation classes every Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM until further notice. This is a great opportunity for all area residents to get hands-on instruction in ways to save water.

A few days later, Sugar Foods, one of Villa Rica's largest employers, announced the installation of a waterless urinal in their plant. These special urinals use no water at all and result in significant water savings. Sugar Foods will eventually save enough money on their water bill to completely pay for the installation. When Sugar Foods issued their final report, they estimated that through all of their efforts, they will save around 40% of their average water consumption, an amazing number.

Most of our top water users have submitted reports showing how they plan on saving water and encouraging their employees and customers to do likewise. While total water savings is not always easy to estimate in advance, many businesses have indicated they will be able to conserve substantial amounts through their new efforts. These efforts are greatly appreciated.
Setting The Example -- At the City Council meeting held Tuesday November 6, 2007, the Council adopted Phase 1 of the Villa Rica Drought Response Plan. Among other things, this plan included replacing older, inefficient plumbing fixtures in all city owned buildings at a cost of around $22,000.00. While the cost is substantial, the city realizes we cannot ask others to conserve water without doing so ourselves.
Process Changes Result in Huge Water Savings -- Currently, the City of Villa Rica's North Water Pollution Control Plant is saving around 24,000 gallons of water per day. They were using this water to feed chlorine from gas cylinders into the treatment process. Now they are purchasing industrial strength liquid chlorine bleach which requires no feed water. Even though the bleach is more expensive, when the cost of the water is taken into account, this procedure is actually saving the city around $44.80 per day in addition to all that water.
The Public Pulls Through In November -- With the drought restrictions already in place, we were already saving water. When Governor Perdue mandated that we had to save at least ten percent, we were concerned that we might not be able to save much more. However, we saw significant changes in water usage in November and we more than doubled the amount of water we were already saving. The credit for this achievement goes to our citizens and businesses for doing their part under these difficult circumstances.