Glendale Water and Power (GWP) has won the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA) Resource Efficiency Award in the Large Utility Water Program category for its water-use efficiency program in partnership with WaterSmart Software. WaterSmart’s technology marries behavioral science and data science to help water utilities engage customers, improve operational efficiency, and save money.

Every year, the CMUA Resource Efficiency Awards honor California’s publicly owned utilities that are on the forefront of innovative water programs. Given the chronic drought the state finds itself in, these awards have never been more important. A leading utility in the effort to improve water-use efficiency, Glendale Water and Power has saved more than 23 million gallons of water in just a four-month period through the WaterSmart Program.

“Glendale has a consistent track record of innovation. We are always looking for proven and verifiable technologies to better engage our customers,” said Steve Zurn, general manager of GWP.  “As we enter a fourth consecutive year of drought we must help reduce consumption and secure water supplies for the long-term needs of our customers. The WaterSmart program has been a tremendous asset in helping us achieve that objective.”

The Glendale WaterSmart Program delivers Home Water Reports (HWRs) to residential customers that include individualized recommendations to reduce their water use. The reduction in household water consumption in turn helps the utility reduce future capital expenditures.

“Glendale Water and Power deserves to be recognized for their leadership in water-use efficiency,” said Robin Gilthorpe, CEO of WaterSmart. “While many utilities are focused on expensive and time consumption water projects, Glendale has chosen to fight the drought with a cost-effective technological solution that delivers measureable results in a matter of months.”