Facebook is not a Fad

If you are reading this you have probably already embraced social media. Some of us are a bit behind the times. Yesterday I attended a workshop about using facebook and twitter for water utility messaging and communication. According to the Portland Water Bureau they are way, way ahead of the social media communication game. They have had their posts picked up by the NY Times, twice! Thrilling. They got their notoriety from posting a picture of a chagrined teenager who had just dumped soap into a Portland fountain for a giggle and a shot of skinny dippers in the reservoir. Point taken, humiliation gets attention.
Some take home points I received about using social media at my water utility from the presentation by Matt Smedley from Frause and Sarah Bott from Portland Water Bureau are:

• Fly rogue. Some managers are old school. Just go for it. (Sarah made this point by showing a picture of her frowny face boss)

• Be prepared for negativity, but don't let it get to you. Matt pointed out that most off the wall comments are policed by the other readers.
• Don't be stupid! Use common sense about what you post. Don't call your boss a jerk.
• Be consistent. Make your page's goals transparent so your readers will know what to expect
• No lecturing. (Sorry if I've done that in the past)
• Must be fun. Know how to keep your audience's attention. Promote interaction.
• Feed the machine. Keep those posts coming. Sarah spends 4 hours a day on social media!

The afternoon sessions were a little more realistic. Kirk Stinchcombe from Econnics told us to ask ourselves if, truthfully, do our customers really want to get posts from us two or three times a day? Wouldn't they rather be getting tweets from Lady Gaga? A couple of times a week, or when we really have some important, relevant information is plenty!

OK, I opened a facebook page for Kitsap PUD. I promise to post only relevant information and let people know if they (God forbid) need to boil their water even if its Thanksgiving weekend. Facebook is not a fad. I will use it for good!

Looking for a Bargain?

Quench your thirst for under a buck! Get 748 gallons of water for only 92 cents! This is a bargain, but water rates go up the more you use. Our drinking water is precious. It is a finite resource. That why Kitsap PUD, like most water utilities, have tiered rates for water consumption. Tiered rates, also called conservation rates, encourage wise use of water and discourage our customers from becoming water hogs. This tiered rate charged for water consumption is in addition to our bi-monthly service charge of $41.04. Kitsap PUD has the following tiered rates. Consumption rates are rounded down to the nearest 100 cubic feet.

0-1,400 cubic feet: $0.92 per 100 cubic feet
1,500-2,400 cubic feet: $1.32 per 100 cubic feet
2,500-4000 cubic feet: $1.66 per 100 cubic feet
4,100 cubic feet and over: $4.12 per 100 cubic feet

Most people don't think in cubic feet like we utility folks do. There is 7.48 gallons per one cubic foot of water. So, doing the math, 100 cubic feet is 728 gallons. This means that our first tier customers can use 748 gallons for only 92 cents! This is tasty, tested to be healthy, convenient to get drinking water. Think about that next time you are waiting in line at the convenience mart for a bottle of water.

Water consumption in tier two and three increases the cost of water less than $1.00 more per 100 cubic feet. The big jump is to tier four. Customers using 4,100 cubic feet or more of water during a two month period will pay $4.12 per 100 cubic feet. We are talking about 30,668 gallons of water! Who uses this much water over two months? No one does during the winter. Customers irrigating lawns, usually with automatic irrigation systems, consume the most water during the summer months.

Can you have a luscious garden and not break the water bank? Yes, use irrigation systems wisely by only watering when plants truly need watering. Most people turn on the system for the hottest month's water needs and run it that way all season! Yes, you know you do.

Water is a bargain, but pay attention to how much you use and choose to use it wisely.

Lets toast the new year

Happy New Year! Happy new water year that is. October 1 marks the new water year 2011. Time for us at KPUD to reflect on 2010 rainfall. Having just gone through a season that could only marginally be called summer, I think we all know it has been wet. How wet was it?

Rainfall in Kitsap County varies so greatly that in order to get a complete picture of our county's precipitation, our office collects rainfall data from 40 collection stations. Most of the rain gauges have computerized loggers that collect rainfall data every fifteen minutes, but a few of the rain gauges are at private residences where committed homeowners collect the rainfall measurements and bring them into our office.

During 2010, the gauge at our office on Finn Hill Road in Poulsbo registered 53.02 inches. This compares to the measly 27.67 inches reported in 2009. Our average rainfall is around 40 inches at this spot. The north part of the county is in the rain shadow. The rain gauge at McKenna Falls in the Bremerton Watershed registered 80.72 inches this year! If you are interested in finding out about rainfall at other sites visit our websit at kpud.org. I'll tell you how to navigate the labyrinth of the website to find this info and more:

• go to kpud.org and click on "water"
• click on "reference data" on the top bar and choose "hydrologic"
  
• check the "I agree" box
• click on "Water Resource Data"
• after arriving at the county map, click on the "Daily Rain Page"
• pick your precipitation gauge site and year for daily rainfall totals

Also on this page are deviation contour maps. These maps allow you to compare twenty years' rainfall data at a glance. Areas of the maps are colored with red/yellow for dry, green or average rainfall and blue/purple for wet areas. What colors do think will predominate on the 2010 map?

Lets toast the new water year by drinking a big glass of Kitsap County tap water. Here's to wet weather!