HOUSTON – The City of Houston, along with four other major cities, has been named the winner of its category in the 2022 Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation. Houston took home the top prize for populations above 600,000, thus naming it a “Water-Wise City, ” by the Wyland Foundation.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner accepted the Wyland Foundation’s challenge in April of this year, encouraging the community to pledge to save water. Since the start of the challenge, the Houston region pledged to save 60.2 million gallons of water. The Houston region also committed to additional methods of conservation:

• stop using 139,092 single-use plastic water bottles
• prevent 3,709 pounds of hazardous waste from entering watersheds
• keep 1,623,529 pounds of waste out of landfills
• reduce 230,091,793 pounds of carbon dioxide
• save 4 million kilowatt hours of electricity
• save $756,579 in consumer costs

“Water conservation is an important tool to ensure safe drinking water is available for future generations,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “The City of Houston is proud of this win, the effort of our community to do its part, and the accomplishments of cities across the country making efforts to save more than a billion gallons of water in 2022. We can all take small steps today to build a more resilient future.”

Those who pledged to conserve water will be now be entered into a raffle to win the following prizes:

• one person will win FREE Utilities for a Year (check worth $3,000)
• 50 people will receive one Toro® Bluetooth Hose-End Timer for yard sprinklers (each worth $52)
• 50 people will receive a gift card to shop online at HobieSurf Shop, the most sustainable retailer in the surf industry (each gift card worth $25)
• 50 people will receive Petal reusable hand soap bottles and soap pods (each worth $25)

The Houston community can find more information about local water conservation efforts, including ways to save water and save money daily.