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10 Ways California Homeowners Can Save Water

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Written by Bob Maschi   
Friday, 24 April 2015 13:18
10 Ways California Homeowners Can Save Water
By Bob Maschi & Laura Loper

California’s drought continues to worsen and we’ve seen the beginnings of some major changes in our lives. We can expect that while big agriculture and other mega-corporations (like Nestle and the oil and gas industry) are coddled, the harshest measures will be aimed at us—the consumers—a group that uses relatively little of the state’s water resources.

While it might not make economic sense for the group using less than 10% of the water resources to be responsible for paying the most, it does make political sense. Both Democrats and Republicans realize that while residents only consume a relatively small amount of water, we also donate an equally small amount to their campaigns.

Regardless, homeowners should consider taking some drastic conservation measures. Some of these suggestions are inexpensive, no-brainers. A few others are pricier but they will increase the value of your home more than they cost—and you should see cost-savings in water usage as well. Also note that as this drought continues, the costs for some of these improvements will increase along with the demand for them. So don’t wait.

And just so you don’t think we’re hypocrites, we’ve done all of these to our own home (though we haven’t yet done #10 – but look forward to doing so soon).


1: Tankless Water Heater: If you still have the old, clunky, hot water tank you really should upgrade. The tankless water heater is mounted outside, so you remove the risk of a hot water tank leak (which can cause major damage and is a real mess to clean up). Tankless delivers hot water more rapidly and conserves fuel as well.

2: Replace the Lawn: Yeah, I know. You’ve heard it before. But the real-grass lawn might well be history for California. There are a few replacement options. The astro-turf of old used to be expensive and looked kind of cheesy. The new wave of artificial grasses are pretty affordable when you factor in what you'll save not watering it and are nearly indistinguishable from real grass (except that it doesn't have all the ugly weeds). And, if you want it to look like a ‘real’ lawn, just glue in some plastic weeds and spray paint large patches of it dry-brown. Or, go the natural route and replant with local wildflowers and other vegetation. Or even go all the way and replace the lawn with small, decorative stones (this can be a cheap option if you do the work yourself. Be sure to put plastic sheeting down first to keep invasive weed growth down). Added benefit: The time you save mowing the lawn every week could be spent volunteering at a homeless shelter!

3: Pool Cover: The in-ground swimming pool may soon become less a luxury for the middle incomers and more a toy for the wealthy. Water loss through evaporation can kill your conservation attempts. The least you should do is buy a pool cover. Be sure to get one that’s relatively easy to extend and retract or you’ll probably avoid doing either. You might also consider alternative uses for the pool. Wouldn’t it make a nice root cellar, wine cellar or skateboard run?

4: Go Vegan: Don't stop reading! Just go vegan one day a week. This won’t help so much with your immediate personal water usage but raising meat is far more water intensive than growing crops. Being a vegan (no meat or dairy products) for one day is a pretty simple thing to do. And if you’re typically a meat eater (say, one-third of a pound per day on average), then that would save about 17 pounds of meat per year. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to raise just ONE pound of beef (less for chicken, but still). So this one day per week could save 42,500 gallons of water every year. That’s about enough to fill two average sized swimming pools. Be careful not to celebrate by eating twice as much meat the day after your vegan diet day.

5: Leaks: Repair the leaky faucets. Come on, you know you’ll eventually have to do it. Why not do it before you lose even more water? Outside faucets are especially easy to ignore. But they can also attract termites and other nasties. Get a break on the cost by combining this work with one of the other plumbing jobs listed here.

6: Low Flush Toilet: Like most mechanics within the home, the toilet needs occasionally replacing/updating. If you haven’t already, replace your clunky old monster toilet with a newer low-flush version which will use about half the water. Don’t be afraid of the problems these used to have—toilet technology has advanced and newer low-flush models work a lot better than the older ones.

7: Rain Barrels: On the off chance that it should ever rain again, install rain barrels where your roof gutters drain. These capture rain water that you can use for your plants (it’s not really drinkable or useful for food plants as most roofs are made of hazardous substances that do wash off). You’ll be surprised at how much water sheds from your roof during a rainstorm. The downside is that if you allow the water to stand for very long it will breed mosquitoes and other buggies.

8: Launder with Water: Ionized water systems haven’t caught on much yet, but they will. These are fairly simple attachments for your washing machine that treat the incoming water (cold only) and use that alone to clean the laundry. No hot water, no detergents or soaps, bleaches or boosters required (except for spot treatments on some stains). Sounds odd, I know. But talk to anyone who has one and you’ll hear how great they work. The drained water can be collected in a rain barrel or laundry sink and used to water plants (though avoid food plants as there may be chemicals washed from your clothing).

9: Share the Shower: A major waste of household water is running the shower to heat it up (or cool it down on hot days). It isn’t to the point (yet) that the whole family needs to crowd into the bathtub together, and installing that tankless water heater should help this situation. But your family could also coordinate their showers one after the other—before the water gets a chance to become an uncomfortable temperature again.

10: Report! Communities are setting up to warn and fine wasteful water users. The general rule is to never use so much water that it leaves your property—no draining into the street gutters. If you know of a neighbor watering the roadway you could make an attempt to educate him or her about the drought. When that fails (many Californians don’t seem to care much about their neighbors’ complaints), consider reporting their waste. Do NOT dial 911. This isn’t an emergency. Instead, contact the local department that supplies and monitors water usage. Your complaint can probably be handled anonymously. I actually had a guy tell me that, since he didn’t believe in drought, he was going to use EXTRA water just to offset any savings our home made. Since this drought is rapidly turning into a crisis and since there are no doubt more people like him out there, I don’t mind being a snitch—and you shouldn’t mind either.

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