In the Face of Drought Conditions Six Cobb County Apartment Complexes Drastically Reduce Water Use​

COBB COUNTY APARTMENT COMPLEXES IMPLEMENT GREEN CITY PROGRAM
Groundbreaking Program Saves Property Owners and Residents Thousands of Gallons of Water

Marietta, GA – August, 2016 – In effort to reduce water consumption and cut utility costs, Orchard Springs Apartment Rentals in Marietta and Woodland Falls Apartment Rentals in Smyrna recently participated the Cobb County Green City™ Program.

Financed by Cobb County Water System, Green City Program enables multi-family and lodging building owners and their residents and guests to drastically reduce water usage and cut utility costs by retrofitting older plumbing fixtures with new, high-efficiency, WaterSense® labeled kitchen and bath plumbing products from Niagara Conservation®, a leader in manufacturer of water- and energy-saving products. The program made its Cobb debut in 2014.

“Through the Green City Program, we hope to attract more interest in water conservation efforts and how they can positively impact our communities by providing financial savings for property owners and residents while also helping save our environment,” noted Nguyen, Cobb County Water System, Senior Project Manager. Kathy added, “Drought will be an issue in our region occurring with increased frequency and severity. Cobb County’s service area is currently experiencing severe drought, with portions of the county experiencing extreme drought. A program like Green City allows our multi-family and lodging customers to reduce water use and that makes us more resilient to drought events”

With focus on the two largest of the six complexes, both Orchard Springs, with 277 units, and Woodland Falls, which has 185 units, are owned by Omar Zavala. The two retrofits were performed in February by accredited Green Plumber Nick Marine of Marine Plumbing with minimal impact to the residents, and both apartment complexes have already saved thousands of gallons of water each by implementing the Green City Program.

• Orchard Springs dropped its water consumption from 811,000 gallons to 489,000 gallons per month. That is a 39.7% savings!

• Woodland Falls dropped their consumption from 691,000gallons to 391,000 gallons per month; a 49.39% savings!

What the Green City Program Offers

The products installed on the properties included innovative offerings from Niagara’s UHET™ Water-Saving Kit, which is comprised of an ultra-high-efficiency 0.8 gallon per flush Stealth® toilet – the lowest gallon toilet on the market – and is equipped with Niagara’s patented Stealth Technology – a remarkable technology that uses the combination of air and water working in unison to help deliver a powerful and more reliable flush without residual noise.

Additional fixtures in Niagara’s UHET Water-Saving Kit include, an adjustable chrome Bi-Max showerheads that allows the user to select either a 1 or 1.5 GPM flow rate, a 1.5 GPM swivel kitchen aerator and two 1 GPM bathroom aerators. All products in the program are covered by a 10-year warranty.

How It Has Impacted the Cobb Area

The Green Cities Program was recently recognized by the Metropolitan North Georgia Planning District with the STREAM Award for Water Supply and Water Conservation Program of Excellence. The six properties that have implemented the Green City Program have seen impressive results. These properties have saved nearly 1 million gallons of water and $9,205 a month.

For more information about the Green Cities Program contact Kathy Nguyen, Cobb County Water System, Senior Project Manager. Kathy.Nguyen@cobbcounty.org .