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We’ve had a great response to the EVERY DROP MADISON poll so far, but there are still a few days left to give your input on the next phase of water conservation and sustainability in Madison.

The EVERY DROP MADISON initiative seeks community input on new conservation incentives and programs that will bring a new era of water stewardship and source water protection to our city.

Recognizing that conservation is water supply, Madison Water Utility and its customers are committed to using water efficiently. After surpassing a 2008 goal (one year early!) to reduce residential per-capita water use by twenty percent by 2020, MWU is updating its Water Conservation and Sustainability Plan to further improve efficiency.

To inform this process, Madison Water Utility wants to engage with our customers to better understand which incentives would be most effective in increasing water use efficiency still further. MWU is working with the WaterNow Alliance, in partnership with the online polling platform POLCO, to maximize public engagement. Madison Water Utility is a 2019 recipient of a WaterNow Project Accelerator grant.

To take the 5 question poll, you must have an account with POLCO. Creating an account allows us to send all results directly to you when the poll closes at the end of September. It is possible that we may have two or three follow-up questions in October or November.

Madison Water Utility's current sustainability initiatives

• Toilet Rebate Program

Provides $100 bill credits to customers who replace an old, water-wasting toilet with an EPA WaterSense model; Limit 1 per household. Est. 1 billion gallons of water saved since 2009.

• Online conservation tool

MWU customers have the ability to view their hourly water use from any computer, tablet or smart phone. Customers can also set up email alerts so they’ll be notified when their usage surpasses whatever number of gallons they choose.

• Infrastructure Overhaul

Between 2005 and 2017, MWU replaced 100 miles of aging water main at a cost of more than $100 million. We continue to invest $6-10 million a year in water main replacement.

• Water Wagon

Provide free tap water at schools and community events across Madison, particularly “zero-waste” events. It’s also our primary tool to talk with students of all grade levels about our aquifer and water conservation.

• Home Water Conservation Program

Project Home and Madison Water Utility have teamed up to create the first water conservation program in Wisconsin aimed at helping low-to-moderate income homeowners reduce water waste, increase efficiency and save money on their water bills. The program helped 82 low-to-moderate income community members last year.

• Wellhead Protection Program

Identify, manage and protect the land areas that contribute groundwater to drinking water wells. Identifying these zones allows preventative measures to be established that prohibit or restrict future land-uses that have the potential to contaminate groundwater.

• Got Water Partnership

Madison Water Utility’s partnership with the Madison Metropolitan School District and Healthy Kids Collaborative based at American Family Children's Hospital. The initiative gives children easy access to clean, fresh water by installing hydration stations in schools across Madison.

For more information about water use in Madison (including a rare look inside out aquifer), take a look at Madison Water Utility’s Sustainability page.