The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to monitor how much water families use in Boulder, Colorado.
The agency submitted a solicitation Thursday, announcing its plans to hire a contractor for the purpose of "Water Monitoring Equipment and Collection of Data" of apartments in the city.
"Region 8 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency intends to issue a Request for Quotes (RFQ) for installation of water monitoring equipment," the solicitation said. "Once installed the contractor will integrate the equipment with existing software system that will monitor water usage in multi-family housing units. The work will be performed in Boulder, Colorado."
The EPA expects to release a final solicitation for the project on June 25. Once a contractor is selected, the monitoring would begin six months after the award.
Colorado’s climate is susceptible to drought conditions. The local government in Boulder already sets the water supply status yearly and has the authority to implement restrictions on water use.
The EPA has shown interest in water monitoring in the past. The Washington Free Beacon reported on another EPA project to create a wireless device that can monitor how long hotel guests spend in the shower.
The agency said they had no plans to monitor how much time hotel guests spend in the shower, though they awarded $15,000 to create the device that could be used to "modify" guests’ behavior.
"The purpose of this project is to support the City of Boulder’s efforts to help residents conserve resources in housing owned and managed by the city’s public housing authority, Boulder Housing Partners," a spokeswoman for the EPA said. "The City of Boulder has been a leader in developing programs that engage and assist residents with voluntary measures to conserve energy and water in public housing. EPA’s support will develop baseline data on water use in a multi-family public housing building and inform the city’s efforts to help residents conserve water."