FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Patty DiPiero, Lee County Utilities
               (239) 479-8534

LEE COUNTY UTILITIES TEACHING WATER CONSERVATION IN SCHOOLS

FORT MYERS, FL (April 12, 2004) - Lee County Utilities is taking its message of water conservation into the schools - hoping to instill good habits at a young age.

Patty DiPiero with Lee County Utilities is presenting a Water Conservation Program to third-graders in the Utilities' service area. She already has made presentations to Villas and Bayshore elementary schools and will be visiting the following schools:

•  Thursday (April 15) - Tropic Isles Elementary School, 9:00 a.m.
•  Friday (April 16) - Pinewoods Elementary School, 1 p.m.
•  Tuesday (April 20) - Three Oaks Elementary School, 9:30 a.m.
•  Thursday (April 22) - J. Colin English Elementary School, 12:00 p.m.
•  Tuesday (April 27) - Franklin Park Elementary School, 8:30 a.m.

The presentation includes a fun, age-appropriate, PowerPoint presentation on water conservation and free pencils and rulers with water conservation reminders.

"This is just another way to teach the community's youth about water conservation - something, hopefully, they'll also take home to discuss with their parents," said DiPiero.

Some of the key points of the presentation:

•  Only one percent of the earth's water is available for consumption - so we must conserve.
•  A person can live a month without food, but only a few days without water.
•  Conserving water can be as easy as washing your car in the grass.

The Utilities Division is urging everyone to help aid in conserving water. This time of year in Southwest Florida is the driest and about 60 percent of our water use is for lawn irrigation. Lee County also would like to remind residents that a lawn only needs one inch of water per week and should only be watered when absolutely needed.

The county's operates seven wastewater-treatment plants with a total of 13-million gallons of capacity per day, and seven water-treatment plants with a combined 27-million gallons of capacity per day. The Utilities Division has an annual operating budget of about $27 million.