Goals and Mission
Savingwater.org is sponsored by the Saving Water Partnership, a group of 19 local water utilities who collaborate to provide water conservation programs to their customers in Seattle and King County.
Conserving water helps manage the impact of growth on the region’s drinking water supplies and will keep more water in our mountain rivers for salmon, for wildlife, and for future generations. Conserving water is an integral part of our commitment to wise management of natural resources.
Thanks to the efforts of residential, commercial and institutional customers, regional water consumption is as low as it was in the late 1950’s, even though our population has grown by more than eighty percent. The goal of the regional water conservation program for 2019-2028 is to keep the total average annual retail water use of the members of the Saving Water Partnership under 110 million gallons a day (MGD) through 2028, despite forecasted population growth, by reducing per capita water use.
Our Water Supply System
Seattle’s Regional Water System serves over 1.6 million people including customers in the City of Seattle and 22 other cities and utility districts that provide water. These water providers, also called purveyors, typically have their own storage and distribution systems.
Two watershed sources provide the majority of water for the system. About 70% is provided by the Cedar River Watershed. The remaining 30% comes from the Tolt River Watershed (29%) and wells at the Highline Wellfield (1%). From these sources, water travels by large pipelines to neighborhood storage areas and then on to home, business and institutional users where it is monitored and measured by water meters. Water is cleaned, treated and continually tested as it travels through the system to ensure that it is of the highest quality.
Water demand varies, depending on seasonal weather conditions. Summer and early fall months are typically times when the greatest amount of water is used, primarily for irrigation. The system provides an average of 160 million gallons per day (MGD) for the region.
Current Water Supply Status
Water supply conditions are normal. Please visit Seattle Public Utilities’ Water Supply website for more information and regular updates.