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2011 Leo Bankston Ground
Water Conservation Award RECIPIENT |
The City of Baker,
Louisiana, has been named the recipient of the
2012 Leo Bankston Ground Water Conservation Award. The award
was presented to Baker Mayor Harold Rideau at the September
25 meeting of the Baker City Council. Capital Area Ground
Water Conservation Commission Chairman Jake Causey presented
the award.
Prior to 2011, only 761 of the City of Baker’s almost 5,300
water customers had water meters. According to Mayor Rideau,
users were being charged a flat rate, $14/month, for water
use, no matter how much water they used. As a result, water
conservation was not a general practice. Some homeowners
even went as far as putting sprinklers on the roof of their
houses during the summer to keep their utility bills lower.
Mayor Rideau applied for and received grants from DEQ and
DHH to help fund installation of the water meters. Pedal
Valves, of Luling, Louisiana, was contracted to provide the
meters, which are all American-made.
The automated meters have a radio transmitter that sends
continuous updates on consumption to receivers around the
city that relay the information to a central computer. Once
the meters were in place, users began being charged for
actual water use. An added benefit is that consumers are
able to determine if they had a water leak. Detailed water
use data is transmitted from the individual meters to a
central location. Since the meters were installed, the City
of Baker has reduced groundwater pumpage by some twenty-one
million gallons a month. “It’s also a timely project,” added
Mayor Rideau. “Saltwater intrusion has begun in south Baton
Rouge. If we don’t start to conserve water, we’ll have salt
water up here.” |
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3535 South
Sherwood Forest Blvd., Suite 137,
Baton Rouge, LA
70816-2255
Phone: 225-293-7370
Fax: 225-293-7373
Site copyright 2016
Capital Area Ground Water Conservation Commission. All Rights
Reserved.
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