Commission considers reclaimed-water demand smoothing, ordinance changes and targeted outreach to large users

City staff presented options on May 15 for conserving reclaimed water and reducing peak demand on the purple‑pipe system, asking the Water Commission whether to pursue specific goals and whether to extend potable water conservation rules to reclaimed users.

Erin Young, water resources section director, opened the discussion and said staff had investigated the legal basis for sharing individual usage records and suggested nondisclosure agreements for any third‑party review of customer meters. "The first question really will be, is there a need to know what that information is?" she said, explaining staff had sought legal guidance on privacy and data-sharing considerations.

Tim Morales, the water conservation program manager, reviewed possible approaches staff could pursue: prohibiting irrigation between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., requiring weather-sensing irrigation controllers and equipment upgrades, implementing outdoor water budgets tied to evapotranspiration, and using odd/even day schedules or no‑watering Mondays as peak-demand measures. Morales said city parks and other large users are a small number of accounts but represent a large share of purple‑pipe demand, and that staff have not yet quantified per-hour demand patterns across all users.

Why it matters: The city is managing finite reclaimed-water resources and is considering whether smoothing peak demand would free capacity for future users, including industrial or advanced-water-purification projects. Staff said some users (for example, golf courses with on-site storage) may be better positioned to adapt to schedule changes than others (athletic fields that need continuous watering during events).

Questions and next steps Commissioners suggested steps staff could take before any ordinance changes: convene the reclaimed-water work group (which includes major users), collect hourly production and customer‑use data for summer months, and pilot scheduling changes with city parks and willing large users to test whether demand smoothing would help system resilience.

Young said staff would prepare two items if the commission directed it: (1) a technical briefing showing monthly and hourly reclaimed-water production and customer-use patterns, and (2) a draft of potential ordinance amendments to apply selected potable-water conservation rules (for example, no irrigation between midday hours) to reclaimed water where feasible. Commissioners emphasized stakeholder engagement with major users (golf courses, schools, NAU and large commercial users) before any formal policy change.

Ending: The commission supported reconvening the reclaimed-water work group and asked staff to return with data on hourly production and a draft approach—including outreach plans—so the commission can consider targeted demand‑smoothing measures without impeding current customers or potential future allocations.