OT – Water restriction

[an]

An interesting video about one of the cause of our water problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD87jsdQh-U

I didn’t know we’re dumping a shit load fresh water into the SF bay to save some tiny fish. This is crazy.

[Hobie]

What is amazing is no one talks about how much water is lost ( diverted to delta away from aqueducts ) -already- due to the delta smelt fish.

They want to hammer growers but they already have lost tons of water. Damn politics.

[Clifford]

[quote=AN][quote=rockingtime]IN Socal, Keeping green grass is completely unethical…
I think these days are coming to an end now..[/quote]Not all grass are the same. My yard is green and I’m only watering it 5 minutes a week.[/quote]

5 minutes a week year round ?
Is it green year round ?

[Coronita]

The rebate for replacing grass with fake grass is now $3.50/sqft in san diego

A key element of Wednesday’s policy changes is reviving an incentive program for such landscaping changes and adding artificial grass as an option. Residents will get $1.50 per square foot they replace, which they could combine with a $2-per-square-foot state program to receive a total of $3.50 per square foot.

[an]

[quote=Clifford][quote=AN][quote=rockingtime]IN Socal, Keeping green grass is completely unethical…
I think these days are coming to an end now..[/quote]Not all grass are the same. My yard is green and I’m only watering it 5 minutes a week.[/quote]

5 minutes a week year round ?
Is it green year round ?[/quote]I don’t water it between October and February. I turned on the sprinker in the beginning of February and had it at 20 minutes a week, but ~1 month ago, I switch it to 5 minutes a week. It has been hot the last month and no rain, yet the grass is still green and growing. It was turning brown (going dormant) around December and January.

[joec]

Isn’t this whole water thing silly when the bulk of water usage is from agriculture (80%) and they don’t have anything in place to remove high water use crops (almonds, rice) in CA? The state would probably be better off just paying these protected farms and not grow certain crops here that use insane amounts of water.

Also, no one seems to care I think because water doesn’t seem expensive in general. If water became more like 500/month, people would cut back a lot more. Water service also hasn’t been disrupted so a lot of people don’t even know we are in a shortage (even though the shortage I think is more a fault of agriculture vs regular consumers).

[an]

What I’ve heard is the reason why we’re producing so much of the crops is because farm land address mostly controlled by large farms planting feeding corn for cows. So, if we remove the ethanol subsidy, ethanol requirement for fuel, maybe other cross would be planted in other states as well. It feels like a bunch of side effects from government intervention. The water wasted every year on the delta smelt alone is enough for 3 million residence. Also why aren’t we building more dams to save water from the wet years? They were flushing fresh water from the reservoir the last time we experienced wet years because the reservoirs were full.

[scaredyclassic]

Whoever smelt it dealt it.

[CA renter]

[quote=SD Squatter][quote=CA renter][quote=SD Squatter]Pretty much all the water used for washing (sinks, showers, washing machine) is perfectly fine for landscaping with no treatment. Right now it’s all mixed up with toilet and down the sever it goes (to the ocean).

Why is the reclaimed water usage for on-property landscaping not mandatory yet? Why are still new houses being build with no mandatory graywater reclamation systems build-in? Why does the government make it so difficult to retro-fit existing on-property sever lines for graywater reclamation? (I tried once, but gave up after seeing all ridiculous regulations and permit hoop jumping required.)

What about rainwater from your roof?

Some questions to ask our local goverment.[/quote]

This has long been one of my pet peeves, too. I do not favor “toilet to tap,” but think that every house built over the past 10-20 years should have been mandated to have a dual plumbing/wastewater system where the grey water is recycled, at least for outdoor/irrigation use. There is no reason for people to have to water with perfectly good, potable water unless they have a fruit/vegetable garden. Even then, filtered grey water (a simple charcoal filter, or something similar) should work for most applications.[/quote]

More on the greywater issue in this Huffington Post article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/08/greywater-california-drought_n_7026350.html

Some intresting facts from it:

• If just one in ten Southern Californians were to install a greywater system in their home, the state would conserve as much potable water as it expects to generate through the massive $1 billion Carlsbad desalination plant.
• During Governor Brown’s first term, the state offered tax credits to Californians who installed greywater systems (the incentives ended in 1982).
• The City of Tucson, AZ reimburses residents up to $1,000 for the construction of greywater systems, and requires that newly constructed houses be plumbed for greywater.
• The City and County of San Francisco publishes a manual for designing and constructing a residential greywater system, and offers rebates for permits for installations that require them. The city even provides free parts and loans out tools for the purpose.

[/quote]

Interesting info, SD Squatter. What’s surprising to me is that we (apparently) had greywater systems that were available in 1982…and nothing was mandated for all the new building since then??? That’s insane. We’ve always had droughts in California; why aren’t greywater (and solar!) systems mandated for new homes and buildings?

It’s difficult to retrofit, but we’re probably going to look into this some more. It would be nice if they could offer tax credits again.

[ucodegen]

[quote CA renter]Interesting info, SD Squatter. What’s surprising to me is that we (apparently) had greywater systems that were available in 1982…and nothing was mandated for all the new building since then??? That’s insane. We’ve always had droughts in California; why aren’t greywater (and solar!) systems mandated for new homes and buildings? [/quote]I lived in a house that had a greywater system in it since about 1968 (at the foot of the mountains north of LA). It was installed after construction, but was easy to install because of raised floor construction. With slab, it is a completely different story.

As for why it is not mandated? I can’t answer other than maybe the builders don’t want to shell out more for something they can’t use to increase their asking price.

[CA renter]

[quote=ucodegen][quote CA renter]Interesting info, SD Squatter. What’s surprising to me is that we (apparently) had greywater systems that were available in 1982…and nothing was mandated for all the new building since then??? That’s insane. We’ve always had droughts in California; why aren’t greywater (and solar!) systems mandated for new homes and buildings? [/quote]I lived in a house that had a greywater system in it since about 1968 (at the foot of the mountains north of LA). It was installed after construction, but was easy to install because of raised floor construction. With slab, it is a completely different story.

As for why it is not mandated? I can’t answer other than maybe the builders don’t want to shell out more for something they can’t use to increase their asking price.[/quote]

What was it like living with a system like that? Any downsides?

I’m bummed that this technology has been around for that long without being utilized more.

And I agree about the builders not wanting to shell out more money for something that they think won’t give them a return on their money, but that’s why it needs to be mandated.

[an]

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/sep/05/fill-er-up/
LoL, what water shortage.

[equalizer]

Since county cut water usage 25%+, we’re just gonna have to rates your rates 20% in 2016.

Bring your pitchforks or Iphones to the meetings to demand a ban on drinking water at home.

Meeting at Carmel Valley library tonight at 7PM.

3919 Townsgate Drive, San Diego, CA 92130

http://www.sandiego.gov/water/rates/increases/jan2016.shtml

[paramount]

residential use is a small fraction of the water budget.

Don’t fall for the propaganda – it’s just another way to fleece the middle class. Most likely to prop up underfunded govt worker pension funds as usual.

[CA renter]

You’re so funny, paramount.

[Author]

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