City of Scottsdale Salinity Pilot Rebate Update Chris Hassert, PE Planning & Engineering Director OCTOBER 2016
Why Reuse Water Salinity Matters Reuse water is a large (and essential) part of Scottsdale’s water portfolio and is used for: Groundwater recharge Turf/golf course irrigation Salinity is not removed in a traditional wastewater treatment process Degraded/saline wastewater is costly to treat and creates a solids disposal issue
Other Salinity Considerations Customers use softeners to combat hardness Salinity one of the most under-recognized water quality threats in the southwest On average a self-regenerating water softener can discharge a pound of salt per day and 70 to 300 gallons of water per week High salinity impairs ability to recycle water for beneficial uses
Sources of Salinity in Reclaimed Water Food Waste & Raw Surface Chemicals in Water Source: Sewer: <50 mg/l TDS in 650 mg/l ReuseWater 1100mg/l Cooling Tower Discharges: <50 mg/l Residential & Commercial Softening: 350 mg/l +/- WRP Chemicals: <50 mg/l 4
Salinity Impacts on Golf Courses • Contracts with 23 golf courses to take up to 20 MGD • Maximum Sodium of 125 mg/l per contract • AWT required using RO to meet Sodium limits • Lowering Reuse TDS by 150 mg/l would yield significant savings
What Can We Do About It? Do Nothing approach? – Monitor TDS and place all focus on technology Water Softener Ban? – Replicate other programs to ban water softeners via Ordinance Intermediate Approach? – Institute a Pilot Rebate Program offering our customers choices WINNER – Intermediate Approach offering rebate options as part of a 2-year pilot program. Data will be examined to better understand customer attitudes, needs and preferences
Pilot Rebate Program
Pilot Rebate Program • Two-year Program offering options to reduce salinity and conserve water in households • Three Rebate Choices: Rebate - Replace softeners with new high efficiency softeners Rebate - Subscribe to a portable exchange service Rebate - Remove salt-based water softener • Customer Survey – Required under each rebate to evaluate customer perceptions • Develop Summary Report after second year of program
Pilot Rebate Program by the Numbers 1. Replace existing softener with new high efficiency softener (standards outlined by city of Scottsdale), $50 one-time rebate limited to first 300 customers/year 2. Subscribe to Portable Exchange Service to eliminate sewer discharge, $100 one-time rebate limited to first 100 customers/year 3. Remove Water Softener completely, $250 ($125 up front and $125 after one year), limited to 200 customers in total • Approved Budget: $82,000 for FY14/15 and $82,000 for FY15/16
Rebate Application (front & back)
Salinity Rebate Marketing Strategy
Marketing Examples
Rebate Program Summary Total ID Opt Rebate $ Spent $ Processed High Efficiency Upgrade 1 $50 19 $950 Portable Exchange Service 2 $100 4 $400 Softener Removal 3 $125 156 $19,500 Removal, 2nd Payment 3 $125 150 $18,750 Total Apps: 179 $ 39,600 ID Remaining Allowed % Used Total Rec'd Denied % Denied HE Upgrade 281 300 6% 56 37 66% PE Service 96 100 4% 4 0 0% Removal 78% 32 17% 44 200 193 2nd Payment 75% 6 3% 253 75 30%
Takeaways from Rebate Numbers • Little Interest in Portable Exchange • Need better labeling on softener packaging to communicate water and salt efficiency • Most popular rebate by far – softener removal • 156 softeners removed which eliminates 56,000 pounds of salt per year from sewer • Customer interest was high – more website hits on Scottsdale Unsalted than all conservation programs
Required Customer Survey
Customer Survey Results
Customer Survey Results
Customer Survey Results
Customer Questions about Program
Next Steps in Salinity Management Continue public education and awareness Examine non-rebate information such as customer questions, survey input and other feedback Continue most successful rebate – softener removal Opportunities for commercial customers Explore rebates for softener “tune-ups” Work with WQA on salinity management Pilot Advanced Treatment Technologies MSSC Participation
Questions?
SCOTTSDALE UNSALTED 2-Year Salinity Rebate Pilot Program Summary Report October 2016
Table of Contents Executive Summary………………………………………………….. 1 Section 1 – Salinity in Arizona and Existing Efforts ………………... 4 Section 2 – Scottsdale Water Salinity Rebate Program Overview ….. 7 Section 3 – Full 2-Year Salinity Rebate Program Results …………..15 Section 4 – Program Take-aways and Lessons Learned …………….19 Section 5 – Conclusions & Next Steps in Salinity Management ……21
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On March 18, , 2014, the Scottsdale City Council adopted Ordinance No. 4146, amending City Code Chapter 49, Water, Sewers, and Sewage Disposal, to allow for a salinity reduction rebate program to be effective July 1, 2014. Under the new Ordinance, a two-year pilot rebate program was introduced to achieve the following goals: Educate Scottsdale Water customers on the detrimental impacts caused by increased salinity in our water cycle. Offer a variety of rebates designed to reduce the addition of salts in our water cycle. Learn from customer feedback and pilot program results and apply those lessons learned to future actions regarding salinity. The need for this proposed Ordinance stems from elevated salinity, or salts, in the sewage stream entering the Water Campus Reclamation Facility (the Campus). Salts are not removed through the traditional reclamation process, and must be addressed using the expensive advanced treatment technologies in place at the Campus. If left unaddressed, high salinity carries through to and degrades the reuse flow stream. Reuse water is a large an essential part of Scottsdale’s water portfolio, because reuse water is used for groundwater recharge and turf/golf course irrigation. As the salinity concentration in the sewage stream increases, reclamation treatment costs rise, since resultant degraded/saline wastewater is costlier to treat and creates a solids disposal issue stemming from reverse osmosis reject water. In developing the salinity rebate program (the program), Scottsdale Water evaluated several strategies to reduce salinity at the source. To gain a better understanding of the viability of these strategies, including cost effectiveness and customer satisfaction, a two-year pilot rebate program was developed offering three specific rebate measures. These measures were focused on reducing salt loads entering the sewer system, while offering the customer a range of options depending on their personal water quality preferences. 1
The three rebate measures offered to Scottsdale Water customers are listed below. (1) Ion exchange water softeners with improved Efficiency Portable Exchange (PE) water s oftening Service (2) (3) Removal of ion exchange based water softeners The table below summarizes the rebates issued as of June 30, 2016 which represents the official end of the rebate program. Total % Total % With- ID Opt $ $ Remaining Allowed Denied Pending Processed Used Rec'd Denied drawn 8 1 $ 50 19 $ 950 281 300 6% 56 37 66% 0 0 9 2 $ 100 4 $ 400 96 100 4% 4 0 0% 0 0 78% 32 17% 0 5 10 3 $ 125 156 $ 19,500 44 200 193 75% 6 3% 0 0 11 3 $ 125 150 $ 18,750 Total 179 $ 39,600 253 75 30% 0 5 Applications: Rebate ID: 8 High-Efficiency Upgrade 9 Portable Exchange 10 Removal 1 st Installment 2 nd Installment 11 Removal By inspection, the outright softener removal rebate has been the most widely applied-for option. Although this was not a surprise, the extraordinarily low number of applications for the Portable Exchange (PE) system rebate did surprise Scottsdale Water staff. Although numerous reasons could exist, the low number is probably best explained by customer aversion to the monthly subscription cost of approximately $40 or more for the service. Even with a 1-for-1 cost match by one of the local PE service providers, customers did not appear to view the one-time $200 total compensation enough to migrate to a PE service. 2
Another significant take-away from the rebate statistics was the high percentage of rejected applications for the rebate tied to improved softener efficiency. Based on customer questions and staff discussions, we’ve concluded the primary reason to be the current disconnect between product labeling and industry cited efficiency standards. Because of this disconnect, it has been difficult for customers to match desired efficiency targets (for salt and water use) to efficiency language on the in- store packaging for new water softeners. The approved rebate program budget for FY14/15 and FY15/16 was $82,000 each Operating budget each year, for a total program budget of $164,000. 3
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