Program Helps 1 Million Get ‘Water-Wise’ : Drought: Metropolitan Water District distributes free packets of low-flow shower heads, water-saving toilet bags and conservation tips.

Murray Kronitz wanted to do his fair share to support water conservation in California but, being confined to a wheelchair, he was unable to install water-saving devices in his Covina home.

Thanks to Water-Wise ‘91, a volunteer plumber came out and retrofitted his bathroom with a low-flow shower head and a water-saving toilet bag.

The Metropolitan Water District created Water-Wise as a way to distribute conservation kits to more than 2 million homes in Southern California.

The program began in February, while MWD considered implementing Phase 6 of its water conservation plan to reduce allotments to its 27 water agencies by 50%, said Matt Puffer, administrative analyst for MWD. Phase 6, however, was suspended after the heavy rains last March.

MWD’s 51 board members agreed to set aside $13 million to develop Water-Wise, which includes giving away free packets containing shower heads, toilet water displacement bags, and water-saving tips. The goal was to help a family of four save 10,000 gallons a year.

“The program was designed to help member agencies and the community meet cutbacks to avoid penalties,” Puffer said.

But MWD also benefited. If customers buy less water, the agency has a larger supply in times of drought to sell to water companies that buy most, if not 100%, of their water from MWD.

To solicit corporate sponsors to distribute the kits, MWD hired Irvine-based Cooperative Technologies and Services International, a project management firm.

Judi Heltebrake , a project manager for Cooperative, said Broadway stores distributed 15,000 kits in May, June and July. Each person who brought in an old shower head was given a kit.

For two days in August, 383 McDonald’s restaurants from Oxnard to the San Diego County line also distributed kits to customers who completed a verification card.

So far, 1 million kits have been given away as a result of the program.

Cooperative also made arrangements with some plumbers’ unions to install the water-saving devices for free in the homes of handicapped people and senior citizens. Heltebrake said Kronitz called her directly and asked for assistance in installing the equipment in his home on Tudor Street in Covina.

“I started making phone calls and got the runaround,” said Kronitz, 62, whose legs were amputated in 1985 because of arteriosclerosis. “Judi (Heltebrake) was the first person I talked to who listened and spoke with concern. She got the plumber to come down and put in the shower head.”

Kronitz said he and his wife, Rosalyn, 60, found out about MWD’s free installation program while visiting relatives in Pacoima. His aunt and uncle, who are also handicapped, were getting a shower head installed in their bathroom.

But Kronitz, a retired supermarket manager from Brooklyn, N.Y., did not call MWD right away.

“I suddenly got a water bill that almost put me out of my wheelchair,” he recalled. “It was 80-some dollars. Usually it’s in the 30s. I said, ‘My God.’ ”

He attributed the higher bill to excessive use during the summer months and assessed penalties. He also said consumption rose because his daughter, Nadine, 36, of Chino, who does most of the cooking and shopping for her parents, and her son Bryan, 14, seem to spend “99% of their time” at the Covina home.

The Kronitz household, which has had the Water-Wise devices for about two weeks, is now using about one-third of the water it used before.

“It (the shower head) has a little button on it to stop the water while you’re lathering up,” Kronitz said. “My house is 35 years old and still had the original shower head, which gushed water all over the place.”

For information on Water-Wise program distribution points, call (800) 660-8028.