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Saving Water While Battling the Heat

Posted: July 15, 2009 02:06 AM

Saving Water While Battling the Heat

By Winston Whitehurst

Be careful how much water you use to shield yourself from the triple-digit heat.

That's the message from Water Conservation officials during this valley heat wave.

They're asking the public to not waste water, and to keep in mind our farmers and firefighters, who also need water too.

Their water-saving tips include checking your plumbing for leaks, avoiding long showers, and making sure not to overuse your sprinklers.

"I think folks are starting to understand, especially in the valley now, with so many people suffering, so many farmers and farm workers suffering, it affects us too, it affects our economy. So I think it's important," said Nora Liakam, Water Conservation Supervisor.

They also recommend drinking plenty of water throughout the day, and limiting time outside to the morning and night.

July is Smart Irrigation Month. Most homeowners tend to overwater their lawn or waste water through inefficient practices, according to Joyce Jones, temporary water conservation coordinator.

Adopting water-savvy routines is essential to maintaining and extending our community's water supply, especially during peak use. The key to efficient outdoor irrigation is applying just enough water and only when necessary. Water-wise habits will conserve water and result in a healthier lawn and landscape. The Irrigation Association named July Smart Irrigation Month to provide tips about smart practices and new technology.

Directions for your Irrigation Timers

You only need to worry about your irrigation timer four times a year.

• In the spring, turn your timer back on to water no more than 3 days a week when the weather warms up and the soil starts to dry out. These are perfect times to look over your irrigation system and fix broken sprinkler heads or other problems.

• In the summer, once it starts getting really warm outside, you can turn up your watering a bit. Remember to turn off the sprinklers for 15 minutes halfway through your complete watering time to allow the soil to absorb the water and prevent water run-off. Best watering plan for our clay soil: water for ten minutes, wait ten minutes for the water to absorb into the soil, and then water for another ten minutes.

• Early fall, as the weather cools down, you can adjust your timers to water less.

• Late fall, when it starts raining, turn your timer off. Public Works encourages all community members to help conserve water by participating in Smart Irrigation Month. During the month of July, take time to check your irrigation systems for leaks. Also be sure your system is set to water in the early morning hours to conserve water (the hours between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. are the best for watering your lawn). For more information on Smart Irrigation Month, visit the website: http://www.smartirrigationmonth.org.

For water timers and outdoor water saving products visit:
www.nrgideas.com

Margaret Partlow was getting tired of watering the asphalt.
Partlow, who manages the Santa Rosa Southside shopping center on Santa Rosa Avenue that is home to REI and Cost Plus World Market, turned to the city of Santa Rosa for help last year.

She signed on with the city’s “Green Exchange” program, which offers rebates to customers who pull out lush lawns and replace them with drought-resistant plants.

“It just used to bother me to death that we had to water that grass, which has a berm so water runs down onto the parking lot — there is hardly any way to avoid it,” she said. “We thought it was crazy. Why are we watering asphalt?”

As the heat of July marches on, evidence of water conservation is becoming increasingly obvious as homeowners cut back on sprinkler time or abandon lawns altogether in exchange for more drought-resistant plants.

Cities across the county are reporting a voluntary drop in water use in the 25 percent range, matching state demands to the Sonoma County Water Agency that it achieve a 25 percent reduction in the amount of water it pumps from the Russian River.

Santa Rosa created the “Green Exchange” program in the face of increasing restrictions on how much water municipalities can use.

Southside is just one of the approximately 575 Santa Rosa water customers who have taken part in the Green Exchange program. Another 1,300 are lined up to go a little less green in the name of water conservation.

July 13, 2009

WaterTherapy shower head envelops you with soothing colors

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There's nothing quite like a long soothing shower to calm your frazzled nerves following a hectic day. The cascading warm water creates a wonderful tactile sensation, even though in most bathrooms there's little else to stimulate your other senses.

The WaterTherapy shower head from Guglielmi adds a visual element, with multi-colored LEDs behind each of the 480 nozzles controlled by any of eleven different monochromatic and multi-colored light programs.

http://www.guglielmi.com/index.php/novita.html

It may seem paradoxical to New Englanders who spent June carrying umbrellas to work every day to hear that Dighton has a desalination plant that converts saltwater into fresh, and that there are more such plants on the way in the area. “We’re hardly Saudi Arabia,” says Bob Zimmerman, executive director of the nonprofit environmental group the Charles River Watershed Association. “To find ourselves in a situation where cities feel compelled to turn sea water into potable drinking water in a state that gets 4 feet of rain a year is absurd.”

This week feels more like July with sunny, warm days in the forecast. We all know that this time of year brings hot and humid days which can produce strong thunderstorms with heavy rains in a short amount of time. Think about this; 1 inch of rain, running off a 1,500 square foot house equals 935 gallons of water, filling 13 bathtubs. Have you ever thought about how you can protect the soil around your home or farm during one of these storm events? Did you realize that if the soil is not protected, it will run off to the nearest stream or river? If you live in town, it runs off into the storm drain and ends up in the nearest river also. This is called non-point source pollution, and it is the main cause of contamination of our local streams and rivers.

So how can you help? Small, simple steps by each of us can make a big difference.

Vegetate all bare areas. Grass, trees and shrubs will help decrease erosion. Cover exposed soil. Plants not only protect the soil but also help clean the air.

Use silt fence around construction projects to keep the topsoil in place. This will save money later when you get ready to landscape and eliminate the need to bring in topsoil.

Recycle used motor oil. Fix oil leaks on vehicles and farm equipment so it doesn't drip onto concrete or blacktop. The rain will wash the oil into the river.

Do not throw litter onto the street or in the ditch in the rural communities; it will be washed into the river. Use a garbage can for your trash and recycle reusable materials.

Wash your car on the grass or gravel where the water will be absorbed. Cleaning chemicals will wash off the blacktop and drain into the storm drain.

Be responsible for your pets or livestock. Fence animals out of the stream, apply manure when conditions are fit, and pick up pet wastes.

Be careful when applying fertilizer and pesticides; follow label directions and do not apply if rain is forecast.

Direct water away from and around your house. Clean gutters. Direct downspouts away from the foundation and onto your lawn or garden.

Rain barrels and rain gardens have gained popularity in larger cities recently. Rain barrels can be purchased at local hardware stores and are used to collect and store rain water to use on flowers or gardens at a later time. A rain garden is a planted depression that is designed to absorb rainwater runoff. If you would like more information about rain gardens or rain barrels, contact the Coshocton Soil & Water Conservation District at 622-8087, Ext. 4.

It takes all of us; no matter our age, working together to keep our water clean.

H2-WHOA! Australian town bans bottled water sales

By KRISTEN GELINEAU – 20 hours ago

SYDNEY (AP) — Residents of a rural Australian town hoping to protect the earth and their wallets have voted to ban the sale of bottled water, the first community in the country — and possibly the world — to take such a drastic step in the growing backlash against the industry.

Residents of Bundanoon cheered after their near-unanimous approval of the measure at a town meeting Wednesday. It was the second blow to Australia's beverage industry in one day: Hours earlier, the New South Wales state premier banned all state departments and agencies from buying bottled water, calling it a waste of money and natural resources.

"I have never seen 350 Australians in the same room all agreeing to something," said Jon Dee, who helped spearhead the "Bundy on Tap" campaign in Bundanoon, a town of 2,500 about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Sydney. "It's time for people to realize they're being conned by the bottled water industry."

First popularized in the 1980s as a convenient, healthy alternative to sugary drinks, bottled water today is often criticized as an environmental menace, with bottles cluttering landfills and requiring large amounts of energy to produce and transport.

Over the past few years, at least 60 cities in the United States and a handful of others in Canada and the United Kingdom have agreed to stop spending taxpayer dollars on bottled water, which is often consumed during city meetings, said Deborah Lapidus, organizer of Corporate Accountability International's "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign in the U.S.

But the Boston-based nonprofit corporate watchdog has never heard of a community banning the sale of bottled water, she said.

"I think what this town is doing is taking it one step further and recognizing that there's safe drinking water coming out of our taps," she said.

Bundanoon's battle against the bottle has been brewing for years, ever since a Sydney-based beverage company announced plans to build a water extraction plant in the town. Residents were furious over the prospect of an outsider taking their water, trucking it up to Sydney for processing and then selling it back to them. The town is still fighting the company's proposal in court.

Then in March, Huw Kingston, who owns the town's combination cafe and bike shop, had a thought: If the town was so against hosting a water bottling company, why not ban the end product?

To prevent lost profit in the 10-or-so town businesses that sell bottled water, Kingston suggested they instead sell reusable bottles for about the same price. Residents will be able to fill the bottles for free at public water fountains, or pay a small fee to fill them with filtered water kept in the stores.

The measure will not impose penalties on those who don't comply when it goes into effect in September. Still, all the business owners voluntarily agreed to follow it, recognizing the financial and environmental drawbacks of bottled water, Kingston said.

On Wednesday, 356 people turned up for a vote — the biggest turnout ever at a town meeting.

Only two people voted no. One said he was worried banning bottled water would encourage people to drink sugary drinks. The other was Geoff Parker, director of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute — which represents the bottled water industry.

Australians spent 500 million Australian dollars ($390 million) on bottled water in 2008 — a hefty sum for a country of just under 22 million people.

On Thursday, Parker blasted the ban as unfair, misguided and ineffective.

He said the bottled water industry is a leader in researching ways to minimize bottled beverage impact on the environment. Plus, he said, the ban removes consumer choice.

"To take away someone's right to choose possibly the healthiest option in a shop fridge or a vending machine we think doesn't embrace common sense," he said.

But tap water is just as good as the stuff you find encased in plastic, said campaign organizer Dee, who also serves as director of the Australian environment group Do Something!

"We're hoping it will act as a catalyst to people's memories to remember the days when we did not have bottled water," he said. "What is 'Evian' spelled backwards? 'Naive.'"

German backpacker Sandra Hackel sits at Circular Quay in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, July 9, 2009, with a bottle of water at hand while she writes a letter home. Residents of a rural Australian town hoping to protect the earth and their wallets have voted to ban the sale of bottled water, the first community in the country and possibly the world to take such a drastic step in the growing global backlash against the bottled water industry. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- When California's budget impasse is settled, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will have to deal with the state's other big crisis: fresh water.

Gov. Schwarzenegger and other top lawmakers have already drafted plans to attack a severe water shortage in the state, which has suffered a three-year drought.

As soon as the stalemate over how to bridge California's $26.3 billion budget gap is resolved, the governor and legislative leaders plan to introduce a package of water-related measures calling for more water conservation and an estimated $10 billion bond measure to finance more fresh water storage.

"We're going to get that water done this year," said Gov. Schwarzenegger last month at a budget speech in Fresno, Calif. "This is the year of the water. It's that simple."

Water is anything but a simple issue in California, where politicians have long fought over how to divvy up one of the West's scarcest resources.

With some of California's reservoirs now holding as little as 21% of capacity, 60 urban water districts have instituted mandatory water conservation, up from six last summer. The current drought is hurting the state more than in the past, partly because California's population has grown to 38 million people, from 29 million two decades ago.

State officials warn the situation could worsen. "If next year is average or below average in water, we'll have very serious problems," said Lester Snow, director of the California Department of Water Resources.

One complication is a thicket of recent environmental restrictions that curtail how much water can be used.

In 2007, a federal court in Fresno ordered water managers to protect the ecosystem of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, in part by reducing how much water is pumped through it. That cut water shipments from the mountains of Northern California to arid Southern California by about 30%.

Mr. Snow estimates roughly a quarter of the state's current water shortfall -- which he calculates at about two million acre-feet -- is due to the protections. An acre-foot is 326,000 gallons, or the average amount of water a family of four uses in a year.

Fixing the way water moves through the delta is now central to the water package that the governor and legislative leaders are pushing.

One idea is to build a new canal to circumvent the delta. California voters rejected a similar proposal in 1982, partly over concerns it would cost billions of dollars. So before calling for a new canal, lawmakers are drafting bills to create an oversight body to iron out details of what the delta needs, said state Assemblyman Jared Huffman.

Another cornerstone of the package is providing more water storage. California's reservoir system was established decades ago, when the state's population was smaller and before climate changes began yielding more rain instead of mainly snow. That change has made it more difficult to capture runoff in reservoirs because rain flows too fast to be captured without causing flooding, Mr. Snow said.

But even as Republicans and Democrats have hammered out a water package in a rare show of unity here, any big-ticket water projects are likely to face intense opposition from environmental groups.

The groups say California already has 1,400 dams and that lawmakers need to fix leaky pipes, as well as better manage state groundwater.

"It's not dams that are needed," said Jim Metropulos, a Sacramento lobbyist for the Sierra Club. "You need to expand the existing water supply."

Some legislators say dams have to be part of any possible solution because future water supplies are likely to remain precarious.

Meanwhile, local water districts are trying to cope.

On July 1, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California reduced supplies of imported water to the agencies it serves by 10% from levels that already were down 10% last year. As a result, the Rancho California Water District, a Riverside County agency that gets much of its water from the agency, was one of several that implemented mandatory conservation measures that day.

Among its new mandates to 42,000 customers: no watering of lawns and gardens between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., fix leaky faucets and wash only full loads of laundry and dishes. Restrictions have been imposed in more than a dozen other water districts across Southern California, including in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Such measures are likely to become more common. "This is a forever change, that customers will have to start internalizing," says Jennifer Persike, spokeswoman for the Association of California Water Agencies.