For the ninth straight year, the city of Wichita will offer a rebate program to water customers who buy water saving household devices.   The city council has approved $100,000 in funding to continue the program for 2021.

Penny Feist with the city’s Public Works department said the program offers rebates in the form of a credit on water bills.   They are available for a number of water-saving devices:

·               $100 on Low flow Toilets: WaterSense^© qualified using 1.28 gallons per flush or less;

·               $100 on High Efficiency Dishwashers: Energy Star or Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE);

·               $100 on High Efficiency Clothes Washers: Water Factor of 4.5 gallons or less (CEE rated);

·               $100 on Smart Irrigation Controllers: Labeled as approved by WaterSense^©;

·               $100 on Rain Sensor-Shutoffs: Set to shut off irrigation after ¼-inch of rain is received;

·               $75 on Rain Barrels: 45 gallons or larger; and

·               $50 on Dual Flush Toilet Conversion Kits: Change inefficient toilets to using 1.6 gals. per flush or less.

The rebates will apply to any device purchased on or after January 1st of this year.   The rebates will be offered until the funding runs out or until December 31st, but Feist said in past years the funding was used up before the end of the year.

The rebates are available to customers who have active utility accounts with Public Works and Utilities for the delivery of potable water, and there is a limit of five rebated items per account.

Applications are available at the web site savewichitawater.com   More information can be found at that web site or residents can call 268-4199.

Feist said the program has been in place since 2013, and it’s estimated that the program has helped the city save over 300 million gallons of water.