The City of Portsmouth is offering a free water conservation kit to every residential customer served by the Portsmouth water system. The city estimates the kits could save users at least $300 annually on their water and sewer bills. Each kit costs the City of Portsmouth $18.65. The City’s Water Department has allocated $25,000 for the first year of the program.

“We’re doing this to save water, not necessarily money,” explained David Allen, deputy director of Public Works, in a press release. “This program will reduce the amount of water we need to provide. It could save as many as 30,000 gallons of water annually per household.”

Allen said that, in addition, the State of New Hampshire wants to make sure that the city has a water conservation program in place before it moves forward with significant improvements to the Portsmouth water system. By doing so, we will be able to borrow money from the State’s Revolving Loan Fund to finance these projects.”

If energy costs are included, the savings could be more than $350 per year for customers with gas water heaters, and over $500 annually for those with electric water heaters.

Postcards have been sent out to home customers in Portsmouth, Newington, New Castle, and portions of Greenland and Rye who are part of Portsmouth’s water system, to inform them of the new program. Residential water customers interested in receiving a free kit are asked to mail a tear-off section of the postcard to the manufacturer of the kits.

Each kit includes: one low-flow massage showerhead, one low-flow kitchen swivel aerator with flow-control valve, two low-flow bathroom sink aerators, two packets of leak detector tablets to check for leaks in toilets, and two toilet water bags that can be inflated and inserted into the toilet water tank to reduce the amount of water used for each flush from 3 gallons in older toilets down to 2.2 gallons. The newest toilets use just 1.6 gallons.

Each kit will also include instructions and a toll-free number for installation support or to report problems.
Additional kits may be purchased for $18.65 from the manufacturer or at the City’s Public Works Building at 680 Peverly Hill Road on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

For more information, call Public Works at 603-427-1530.