9 Random Ways to Save Water

By Katie McCabe, San Diego Living Green Examiner

1. Only order water in restaurants if you really want it. According to the San Diego Water Department, every glass of water served at a restaurant requires another two glasses to wash and rinse it. “Since nearly 70 million meals are served each day in US restaurants, we’d save more than 26 million gallons of water if only one person in four declined the complimentary glassful.”

2. Color your toilet water. Add a few drops of food coloring into your toilet tank. If it seeps into the toilet before you’ve flushed, you have a leak. Fixing the leak can save countless gallons per month.

3. Put a plastic bottle in your toilet tank. First, add about an inch of sand to the bottle, then fill it with water and screw on the cap. Put the bottle into your tank (away from any important plumbing items): The amount of space taken up by the bottle equals the amount of water saved in each flush.

4. Water your lawn with more water…but less often. Sprinkling your lawn too lightly can actually prevent the water from getting deep enough into the soil, which causes the grass to develop shallower roots and the grass becomes less resistant to a drought. Instead, deep soak your grass and use the San Diego Water Department’s landscape watering calculator to know how often for your lawn: http://apps.sandiego.gov/landcalc/start.do.

5. Cover your pool. An averaged-sized pool loses 1,000 gallons of water per month. You can reduce it by 90% by using a pool cover.

6. Add a patio. A nice patio will not only add value to your property, but it also takes the place of grass or other plants that need to be watered.

7. Water your lawn on non-windy days. The wind can blow the water off your grass or plants. What a waste!

8. Don’t use your toilet or sink as a garbage can. Flushing tissues or cigarettes down your toilet wastes a flush every time. And scraping your dishes into your garbage disposal rather than a trash can (or compost bin!) causes extra running water.

9. Water plants in creative ways. Use leftover water to water your plants: melted ice from a cup, water from cooking noodles or vegetables, or the water from your hot water faucet while waiting for it to warm up.

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Source: Examiner.com

For more ways to save water at home, view Nuprana’s Water Conservation Products.

Congress to Examine Link Between Energy & Water

The U.S. Senate is starting to look harder at the nexus between energy and water. Tomorrow, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on a bill introduced last week that would direct the Department of Energy to develop a roadmap for addressing the linkages between energy and water. The relationship between the two sources has been a growing concern among energy and water experts. Large amounts of water are needed to produce energy at power plants, and significant energy is used to treat and transport water to consumers. In other words, each is dependent on the other, but energy and water are rarely integrated in policy.

Peter Gleick, president of Oakland, calif.-based Pacific Insitute, a policy group, will testify before Congress tomorrow. According to excerpts of his planned testimony provided to Earth2Tech, Gleick will argue that considering energy and water together could offer substantial economic and environmental benefits.

The bill, introduced by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chair and ranking member of the committee, calls for in-depth research into the energy-water relationship. Besides the DOE, other government agencies would be called to conduct studies if the bill is passed. The Bureau of Reclamation would be directed to evaluate energy use in storing and delivering water from reclamation projects and identify ways to reduce energy use. The Energy Information Administration would be required to continually report on the energy consumed in water treatment and delivery. And the National Academy would be asked to study water use in the production of transportation fuels and different types of electricity generation. The work could lead to better national policies, such as those promoting the use of reclaimed water or phasing out crop subsidies that promote the wasteful use of water.

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Source: Earth2Tech

Going green, without a lawn

Virtually all the bungalows in Jennie and Chas Rightmyer’s Kensington neighborhood have well-tended lawns out front – part of the American dream, along with picket fences and two-car garages.

But increasingly dire warnings about statewide water shortages prompted the Rightmyers to remove their Bermuda grass. They are replacing it with a drought-tolerant garden that should be completed by month’s end.

The couple hope the new landscaping will cut their overall water use by more than 20 percent.

“It just feels like the time has come,” Jennie Rightmyer said.

Californians should end their love affair with lawns, said water officials, lawmakers, conservationists and landscapers. Many of these advocates have promoted native plants for years, but they now sense a greater potential for change because of the public’s growing concerns about global warming, drought and ever-rising water bills.

“It’s the beginning of the end of lawn at home,” said Nan Sterman, who teaches a class called “Bye Bye Grass” at the Water Conservation Garden in El Cajon.

Last week, the garden’s managers started a hotline for people to seek advice from Sterman about “water-smart” landscaping.

“It’s not just the early adopters anymore,” Sterman said. “It’s (average) people who are really getting the sense that we have to do something . . . which tells me that it’s becoming part of the mainstream.”

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Source: Sign On San Diego

California: Let’s all get wet

As I write these words, rain is hammering my apartment building and rivers of fresh water — hundreds or perhaps thousands of gallons per minute — are gushing down the streets and the sidewalks, filling rain gutters, overwhelming the storm drains and rinsing the City relatively clean, and you think, ahh yes, rain, bring it on, so healthy, so good, so desperately needed.

Maybe you also think: Surely all that water is going somewhere helpful, yes? Surely at least some of those drains feed into some grand network of reservoirs and tanks that, in turn, replenish the supply and nourish the community and come back through our taps and get recycled for irrigation, and it’s all glorious and helpful, right?

Wrong.

Truth is, the vast majority of that glorious water is merely flushed away by a system of conduits and drainage pipes and sent straight out into the bay, all in an effort to avoid urban flooding because, well, we are simply not equipped to handle too much of it at once.

Meanwhile, I read the same dire stories as you. Despite the rain, despite weeks of snow and storms and pounding amounts of water crashing down on the region for hours on end, we are still in very serious drought conditions. Long-starved state reservoirs aren’t even half full. The governor declared a state of emergency. The Colorado River is long overtaxed, lakes are drying up, the besieged Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta is being siphoned off at a record pace. We do not, they say, have nearly enough water. And it’s getting worse.

It seems to prompt one ridiculously obvious, but still increasingly urgent question: How can this be? How is it that tens of thousands of gallons of fresh water are pouring through the city streets right now, but we are only able to capture and use but a fraction? Why do we not have better systems in place? Why is this not more imperative?

Is that too naïve to ponder aloud? Hardly. Sure, we all know the state has its grand reservoirs, the spring snowmelt is the lifeblood of the aquifers, the rainfall feeds the starving, overbled rivers and deltas. But what about what’s right here, right now? What about what every single city, every single person, every single household isn’t doing in the slightest?

Why do we not, for example, have in place regulations similar to what much of drought-plagued Australia’s already done, mandates requiring that every homeowner cut their usage in half and every home and building be fitted with a basic water-capture and storage apparatus — along with solar panels and compost and so on — aiming toward at least some semblance of self-sustainability? How is it we are still stuck with the archaic, centralized models of water and energy supply that, unless we start changing it fast, will likely spell California’s doom?

I know: simple questions. Simplistic, even. But as we get more desperate, we sure as hell don’t seem to have very many satisfying answers.

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Source: San Francisco Chronicle

5th World Water Forum to Address Planet’s Water Concerns

Chicago, USA (UAE Daily News): The 5th World Water Forum, the world’s largest water-related event, will convene in Istanbul, Turkey, March 16-22, 2009, to push the worldwide water crisis onto the international agenda. Held every three years, the Forum gathers parties from every horizon to find sustainable solutions to the world’s water challenges.

With more than 3,000 participating organizations and over 10,000 attendees, this year’s Forum will include international heads of state, United Nations representatives, ministers, parliamentarians, local authorities and other government officials, as well as water professionals, activists and other interested parties. During this year’s Forum, the United Nations’ World Water Development Report will be unveiled giving insight into freshwater resources.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, two-thirds of the planet will live in water-stressed conditions by 2025 if present consumption patterns continue. “The ultimate goal of the 5th World Water Forum Istanbul 2009 is to motivate action to improve the world’s management of water resources,” says Prof. Dr. Oktay Tabasaran, the Forum’s secretary-general. “This can only be done by raising awareness of the importance of water-related issues. However, global awareness must be followed by actions such as legislation and funding, which are promoted through the Forum.”

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Source: UAE Daily News

Water Efficiency is Key to Saving Energy: Expert

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In regions where pumping and distributing water requires significant electricity use, policies that lead to reduced water consumption could address climate change more efficiently than requiring businesses and households to use less energy, according to water expert Peter Gleick.

“Some of the cheapest greenhouse gas emission reductions available seem to be not energy-efficiency programs, but water-efficiency programs,” said Gleick, president of the California-based Pacific Institute, a global water research center.

Gleick notes, for example, that it may be cheaper for consumers to reduce the overall hot water usage in their homes than to replace their incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient alternatives.

The virtues of water efficiency can be found in California and China — regions where water shortages have become emergencies and droughts may worsen with climate change. Conditions may become more severe in the future as consumers turn to water solutions that often require even greater energy supplies.

In California, where drought is afflicting the land for the third year in a row, the state is reducing water deliveries by 20-30 percent this winter and warns of “the most significant water crisis in its history.” The water shortages are forcing farmers to cut production and lay off employees in an already sour economy.

Meanwhile, water transportation, storage, and treatment account for about 19 percent of the state’s electricity, according to a 2007 California Energy Commission report. To reach the rapidly expanding urban clusters in southern California, for instance, water is pumped 2,000 feet (610 meters) over the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles.

David Zoldoske, director of the Center for Irrigation Technology at California State University-Fresno, has led efforts to educate central California farmers about proper pump maintenance since 2001. With the help of utility company subsidies, the project has helped improve the efficiency of several irrigation pumps, saving 19.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually between 2002 and 2005, he said.

But the recent drought may reduce many efficiency gains. Farmers are digging deeper water wells and several counties are exploring plans to build desalination plants. Both measures lead to significant increases in energy use.

“When you’re running out of water, you don’t care about what the energy bill is … and we’re in dire straits here in California,” Zoldoske said. “Where people can use water more efficiently, people will opt for that … But the availability and reliability of water is more of a concern.”

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Source: Green Buildings

Water conservation bill gets House OK

ST. GEORGE – Pushing to make water conservation and efficiency more of a priority, Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, introduced a bill designed to protect the world’s most precious resource.

The Water-Use Efficiency and Conservation Research Act, passed on a voice vote in the U.S. House on Wednesday, authorizes $100 million over five years to create a research and development program on water-use efficiency and conservation within the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development.

“Many experts are starting to see water as the ‘new oil’ in terms of what a precious commodity it is,” Matheson said in a statement Tuesday. “The key to avoiding future scarcity is more efficient use, reuse and distribution. We need the best minds tackling the challenge, and then we need to ensure the information is readily available to the public.”

For arid western states such as Utah, water conservation has always been a hot topic, and the region’s rate of population growth portends more obstacles to come.

“Fast-growing urban areas in arid or drought-stricken regions are looking at water shortages unless we get smarter about using technology to be more efficient,” Matheson said. “It will also save money.”

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Source: The Spectrum

$1 Million Saved Through Conservation in One County Alone

By Kevin Hamm

Aurora, CO– In times of tight budgets, any cost savings are welcome. Due to the foresight of the Arapahoe County, CO commissioners, nearly $1 million was saved last year thanks to conservation efforts in the county’s buildings.

In 2004, Arapahoe County entered into a contract with Chevron Energy Solutions to assess the energy and water usage of the county’s facilities and make recommendations on improvements. Since then, more than $10 million in electrical, natural gas and water improvements have been made, said Curtis Cole, the county’s energy resource conservation specialist.

The contract guarantees a certain amount of annual savings if the recommendations are implemented, Cole said. Last year, it guaranteed savings in the amount of $587,727, but the county actually saved $737,813 after implementing the recommendations, and when other factors that aren’t monitored under the contract are added in — such as lighting improvements and water conservation efforts — the savings were $969,505.

County commissioner Pat Noonan said the board of commissioners started looking into the issue when the county began having concerns with the heating and cooling systems in some of its buildings and were looking to make upgrades and save money on energy costs.

Cole credits the county’s forward-looking thinking when budgets weren’t as strained as they are now.

“It was good planning since it all started when revenues were better,” he said. “It might be a tougher sell now, honestly.”

Cole is the person who monitors the conservation efforts and looks for any additional places improvements can be made. The big improvements made so far are things like replacing old boilers, chillers and cooling towers with newer, more efficient models, he said, but a lot of small things add up as well.

The county has upgraded lighting and temperature control systems in many of its buildings so they operate more efficiently, something that has the added benefit of employees’ comfort. “We’re not going nuts with freezing you in the winter and boiling you in the summer,” Cole said. “You can have a comfortable workplace and still save money.”

“We’re in it for the long haul,” he said. “A little bit of money spent now amortized over 10, 20 or 30 years is a gift that keeps on giving. It’s a benefit to taxpayers.”

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Source: Yourhub.com

Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport and Area Cities Develop Water Conservation Project

By Max B. Baker, Star-Telegram

ARLINGTON — Several area cities and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport are considering joining forces in a multimillion-dollar conservation project to irrigate parks, golf courses and highway medians using highly treated water from a Fort Worth wastewater treatment plant.

The Arlington City Council is expected to consider joining a regional partnership next month that would use reclaimed water from the Village Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant at the Ditto Golf Course, J.W. Dunlop Sports Center and the city landfill.

And D/FW and Euless are considering joining a program developed by Fort Worth to sell the plant’s effluent — which is suitable for industrial uses but not drinking — and cut back on using costly drinking water from East Texas reservoirs.

Officials are increasingly taking a regional approach to providing water and fighting drought. Last week, the Tarrant Regional Water District, which is the area’s major raw water supplier, said enhanced water restrictions may be necessary by summer if conditions don’t improve.

“It is a money-saving venture because you are keeping water that is already in the area and using it again after it is processed,” said Julia Hunt, director of Arlington’s Water Department. “It allows us to offset or reduce the amount of water that is brought in from East Texas.”

On Feb. 17, the Arlington council will be asked to consider joining the partnership and spending $358,000 to design the first phase of the pipeline. The city hopes the pipeline, which may cost about $4.4 million to build, will be operational by 2010, said Terry Benton, assistant director of water utilities.

Eventually, it could be extended to the entertainment district for use at Six Flags Over Texas, the new Cowboys Stadium and the Texas Rangers ballpark, he said.

While the water is not suitable for drinking, it can be used for irrigation, gas well drilling and other types of industry, said Mary Gugliuzza, spokeswoman for the Fort Worth Water Department.

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Source: Star-Telegram.com

More Canadians limit water and energy usage

OTTAWA – Canadians are saving water both coming and going, from top to bottom, and from east to west.

The proportion of Canadian households using reduced-volume toilets more than doubled to 37 per cent from 15 per cent between 1994 and 2006, while the percentage with a low-flow shower head rose to 57 per cent from 44 per cent, according to one of two environmental reports Thursday from Statistics Canada.

“Households in Eastern Canada were more likely to use low-flow shower heads while those in Ontario and the West were more likely to use reduced-volume toilets,” it said, adding, however that Ontario led the way in the use of both.

Meanwhile, more Canadian households are also turning to programmable thermostats to cut back on their energy use, according to the other analysis.

In 2006, 40 per cent of households with a thermostat had a programmable one, up from just 16 per cent in 1994, it said. Of those with a programmed thermostat, 68 per cent were programmed during the heating season to lower the temperature while they slept while only 46 per cent of households with an unprogrammed or non-programmable thermostat turned down the heat overnight.

Programmable thermostats, though they’ve been in existence for about 100 years, have only become popular over the past decade, Gordon Dewis, author of the report, Thermostat Use in Canadian Homes, noted in an interview.

While rising energy costs are clearly a factor behind some of the heat and water conservation efforts of Canadians, the report suggests saving money isn’t the only consideration.

“Among households with thermostats, the likelihood that the temperature was lowered when the household members were asleep increased as the total annual income increased,” observed the report on thermostat use.

“Higher income, home ownership and living in a single-detached dwelling were . . . associated with greater use of water-saving fixtures,” echoed another report.

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Source: Canada.com

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