Despite its reputation as a rainy city, Seattle is frequently faced with water shortages during summer months. The Seattle Water Department and its 27 wholesale purveyors, Puget Sound Power and Light, Seattle City Light, Washington Natural Gas, and Metro formed an unprecedented collaboration to preserve this precious natural resource. They sought to create a residential water and energy saving program to reduce water waste from sources such as showers, leaky toilets and leaky faucets, and to reduce energy and facility waste generated by heating and subsequently treating water. They hired PRR to help them design a comprehensive water saving program.

PRR conducted research to gain an understanding of the barriers to detecting leaks, and to identify the most efficient in-home products. After conducting showerhead testing and random sample telephone research, PRR developed marketing and communications strategies to drive the Home Water Savers Program. We designed educational materials and developed a conservation kit that included a high-efficiency showerhead, aerator, leak detection tablets, toilet flow-cycle diverter, Teflon tape, installation directions, and printed information. PRR then organized a door-to-door campaign, and dispatched a team to provide kits to over 300,000 homes in the greater Seattle area, including free installation to elderly and disabled residents. The teams later returned to each home to retrieve old showerheads for recycling. Media and public relations activities included cooperative promotions with over a dozen corporate and media sponsors, public service announcements featuring local elected officials from various jurisdictions, a media event, and media outreach that generated national coverage. The program goal was to establish 45 percent long-term compliance; the program exceeded its goal and reached 65 percent. The Home Water Savers Program was considered the most successful campaign of its type in the nation.