share.triangle.com - Water conservation tips - Comments

Given that human populations

The_Dude — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:40:18 -0400

Given that human populations on a global scale are destined to get bigger and bigger, with no hint of hesitation, I think it is illogical to look at conservation as a practical means to maintain supply.

Clearly, the demand is growing much faster than the supply.

Basically, rain that falls somewhere supplies it all, and though the rain patterns might change from year to year, they aren't going to suddenly begin continuously supplying any part of the USA with unexpected surpluses of water. If we want to increase the supply, to meet the growing demand, then we are going to be forced to find a new source.

By all means, we can delay the inevitable solution, by fooling ourselves with conservation, but eventually no matter of conservation will meet the demand.

Desalination is expensive, and it produces low quality water, according to our present standards, but it is reliable, and there is more than enough water in the ocean to meet any human demand for water. Sooner or later it will be our only solution. The question then is, what habitats are we willing to destroy before we accept that fact and start desalinating water?

Hot Water Lobster for Water Conservation!

mrtony_357 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:33:12 -0400

Fresh water can only become scarcer and go up in price! I am in Michigan, so I am lucky to be surrounded by it, but it is still getting costly and our freshwater lakes are depleting! I do all I can to conserve water! My newest home water conservation addition is a Hot Water Lobster Instant Hot Water Valve. This thing is great! It saves a lot of water and my entire home has instant hot water! I save a lot of time not having to wait for water to heat up at my taps! I paid $179.95 off the internet for it, which seems quite reasonable! My water savings will recover it's cost in not too long. It only took my like 10 minutes to install!

You can't beat that it's made in the U.S.A., has a 10-year warranty, and comes with a money back guarantee! I surely won't be returning it! I bought it from:

www.hotwaterlobster.com

Press Release - Water Conservation

Visitor — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:01:13 -0400

Patent-Pending Invention Could Save Millions Of Gallons Of Water A Day For Hard Hit Drought Regions

A Cleveland Ohio inventor upset over the increase in his utility bills, develops a self-closing water and energy saving shower head that could save millions of gallons of water daily for major drought hit areas.

Cleveland, Ohio (PRWEB) March 13, 2008 -- A Cleveland Ohio inventor upset over the increase in his utility bills, develops a self-closing water and energy saving shower head that could save millions of gallons of water daily for major drought hit areas.

Record breaking droughts have devastated fresh water supplies across the Midwest and Southeastern States. City officials are calling on residents to conserve water and energy by cutting back on the length of their showers. They're also asking residents not to sing while showering - or at least sing a shorter song.

This new self-closing pull chain shower head has been described by one California reporter as a "flow as you need it shower head… one of those products that truly makes so much sense it should have been invented eons ago."

The innovative shower head called the "It Makes Sense Shower Head," meets government requirements imposed on all shower heads manufactured and sold in this country since 1992, and has been approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

The flow rate of this inventive self-closing shower head goes from 0.5 gallon per minute (gpm), to a powerful 2.5 gpm full-body spray, simply by pulling the chain a little more or less. It is estimated to save up to 88% on water and energy, out performing today's low flow shower heads in efficiency, while still delivering a thorough and invigorating showering experience.

This in-expensive device can save consumers hundreds of dollars a year on their utility bills, while saving billions of gallons of water a day, that are wasted throughout this country with conventional low flow shower heads.

The It Makes Sense Shower Head is said to be so efficient, consumers can now take one shower everyday for an entire week, and pay their utility company for only one… Mr. Rahaming calls it "The best buy 1 get 7 free deal in town." Not only does the consumer save on their utility bills, but power companies, water facilities and waste treatment plants benefit because the demands placed on them would be reduced.

How does this work? A standard government rated low flow shower head at 2.5 gpm will use 25 gallons of water for an average 10 minute shower. Using the It Makes Sense Shower Head allows you to have a complete and thorough shower, during that same 10 minutes using only 3 gallons of water or less.

The self-closing pull chain shuts the water-flow down to a trickle the moment you release it. The built-in trickle keeps the waters temperature where you set it throughout the shower and prevents scalding.

Although similar shower heads with on/off buttons are available, the It Makes Sense Shower Head takes the guesswork out of when you should or shouldn't turn the water off. The convenient pull chain also eliminates having to reach and search for these buttons, resulting in better efficiency in water and energy savings, not to mention sewer charges.

This product is currently being sold only online at: http://www.itjustmakessense.net but marketing plans will soon bring it to local stores later this summer. For more information on this product and to view a demonstration video, go to: http://itjustmakessense.net/Video.html

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Help Me Understand This...

plusaf — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:26:46 -0500

not everyone who DOESN'T believe in Global Warming-ism is a "republican." http://www.plusaf.com/soapbox/globalwarming.htm

i approached the discussion from a scientific/engineering process and background and found the arguments to be severely wanting.

if you believe in Global Warming, you won't believe anything on that link, either. Guaranteed. In fact, you won't even read part, let alone all of it.

plusaf
Northwest Raleigh
27613

Help Me Understand This...

plusaf — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:20:11 -0500

This week was an interesting one in the N&O, but it left me a bit puzzled.

Several articles and photos documented an apparent screw-up at the DOT. The Department of Transportation managed the paving of a highway some years back, reportedly ignoring or bypassing the concerns of one of their own engineers who was concerned that the thickness of the paving material was insufficient. She voiced the worry that if the road were paved according to then-current plans, in a few years the road surface might crumble.

The original plans were followed. Now, the road surface is crumbling in spots and numbers appeared in the several articles describing how much less expensive it would have been to have "done the job right in the beginning," and how much more expensive the repairs will be now, not only due to the costs of removing the old material but increases in material and labor costs over the span of time from the original construction 'til now.

I saw a parallel to the "water crisis" in Wake County, but for all of the letters I've written to the N&O, somehow it seems that no one there is willing or able to see the parallels.

To me, it's pretty clear: the water utility has not effectively planned nor implemented an infrastructure capable of meeting Wake County's water needs. While "many people have written to the N&O" suggesting possible solutions to the long-term issue, such as increasing the capacity of Falls Lake by dredging the bottom out, the response from all levels of "management" in North Carolina seem to sing a single note: "Conserve, Conserve, Conserve."

While conservation is a GOOD THING, and I absolutely do NOT want to minimize its importance today, I can't help but feel that the parallels to the DOT "crisis" are compelling.

The "roadblocks" to increasing the capacity of Falls Lake or networking other lakes and water reservoirs seem to have their own "same song":

It will cost too much
It will take years to get approvals
We don't know where to put the dredged material
It won't solve the drought crisis now

Is there no one else who sees the parallels?! Making mistakes in road construction causes problems in the future. The inconvenience to motorists due to reconstruction is extreme [look back at the last two years of I-40]. The costs of re-doing bad road work is much more expensive than it would have been to do it right in the first place.

Maybe we should hand the job of supplying our tap water to the DOT. They seem to be able to at least get the job done at LEAST ONCE in the first place, without as much excuse-making about "takes too long or is too expensive or crosses too many departmental or organizational boundaries" even if, five or ten years from now, they'll still have to go back in run more pipes or re-dredge the Lake.

Droughts occur, on average, every 5-7 years, give or take, in ANY region or part of the country. Like clockwork. If you're a "global warming-ist" you're even MORE worried about decreased rainfall in this area in the future!

So where is the disconnect that seems to make it impossible for any government agencies here to realize that Conserve, Conserve, Conserve means less and less water for EACH home EVERY year that more people move into this area???

30% conservation this year will mean 40% in a few years, then 50% and on and on until it's 80%, 90%...! And we're having trouble meeting 30% already!

We must, let me repeat that with emphasis: We MUST begin to do the work NOW to INCREASE SUPPLIES of water for our future: make estimates NOW as to what it will cost and build those costs into the cost of water TODAY and start paying for increased capacity in the future NOW. Yes, millions of dollars will be needed, and spread over millions of people, it will be many dollars per year per household.

I can't speak for you, but if it meant an extra $100 a year or so for my property or my water meter so that five years from now I'd be able to water some plants or take a shower or wash my car, I just might be willing to cough it up NOW rather than not be able to take that shower or water my flowers or wash my car AT ALL in the future.

Can no one else see the parallels? Is no one else willing or able to make the estimates today and pay the piper today so that five years from now, or whenever the next drought arrives, the Governor and Mayors won't have to be wasting time and energy repeating the mantra AGAIN of "Conserve, Conserve, Conserve?"

Help me understand this. Help me communicate this to our government leaders until they get the message: there are TWO ways to alleviate the water shortage, and increased SUPPLY is the better of the two.

Thanks for reading.
again.

plusaf
Northwest Raleigh
27613

Low-flow shower heads

Josh — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:25:58 -0500

I was just wondering if the State of North Carolina, Wake County, or even the City of Raleigh has considered purchasing or providing a voucher for low-flow shower heads for all citizens? I am guessing they could get these things for extremely cheap buying in that big of bulk, maybe even free if they find a sponsorship.

Sure, the citizens will still have to install it, but they will have zero excuses regarding that issue.

Just a thought/wonder I was having...

drought categories

J_Totty — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 12:13:55 -0500

http://www.ncdrought.org/ has descriptions for the drought categories and the counties in each category.

Turn off the water when shaving!

Kent — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:54:26 -0500

You should ALWAYS turn off the water ANYWAY to shave or brush your teeth! It wastes 3-4 gallons of perfectly good water every time you brush or shave while leaving the water running! Come on, both of these are one-handed activites; use the free hand to turn the faucet on and off only when you need it, to wet the toothbrush/razor.

It is selfish and wasteful, and most of all, unnecessary, to leave the water running while shaving or toothbrushing, and it can save almost 100 gallons a month per person to stop doing it.

no drought? say hello to another republican :(

Visitor — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:35:01 -0500

probably doesnt believe global warming is occurring either, eh? WMD are in Iraq too! Jeesh.

grey water

Katie — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:08:11 -0500

I remember reading in N&O a few weeks ago that the use of grey water is simply illegal. As we count down the days until we have no water, wouldn't now be a good time for the city to reconsider the reasoning for its laws and the value of them. Sierra Magazine recently published an article with a link to www.greywater.net that described how to transform plumbing. I consider that it is high time that legistlation also require new home builders to include some conservation measures such as rain barrels or grey water piping. As an older home owner, we do as much as we can with buckets to reuse bath and washing machine water for plants and toilet flushing. We also let the drain fill up as the kids wet down for showers so they can turn off the water to soap up and still have the benefit of the warmth from the water. This way they are able to use much less water and still have fun, warm shower/baths. We also use a water heater timer that only turns the hot water on 1 hr. at night and 1/2 hr. in the morning. This 1) makes us more conscious of our water use and 2) reduces electricity which saves water in the electric plant. People doubt the benefit of such water heater practices but coming from a country where this is a common practice, we have measured electric usage both ways and proven that it is beneficial.

Check your water meter daily

Ann — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:06:39 -0500

When I pick up the newspaper every morning, I read the water meter, which is up by the road. I then write down the setting for the family to see how we are doing in water conservation, day by day. It is a game to see how few gallons we can get by with using.

Dual-Flush Toilets & Shower Flow Restrictors

J_Totty — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:52:15 -0500

Dual-Flush toilets give you an option on the amount of water to be used for each flush. They usually use .8 to.9 gallons or 1.6 gallons. Unfortunately neither Lowes nor Home Depot carry this type of toilet.

Here is a product that can convert single flush to dual-flush toilets http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product/02-0205 ($36.00 plus $7.95 s&h) http://www.powerflushus.com/index.html ($59.99 plus $16.95 s&h) I have not used this product but do have dual-flush toilets.

Install flow reducer valves behind all shower heads. These can be marketed as Shut off valves. Shut off valves can be used and adjusted to not completely close. I found one at Home Depot for $4.97.

"recycling" water

Visitor — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:28:21 -0500

At the end of a meal (or sports practice), we empty our water glasses and bottles in to a large pitcher. When the pitcher is full, we take it outside and water the plants in the yard.

drought categories

rome — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:19:42 -0500

what is the criteria for the drought categories, exceptional, extreme,severe and moderate?

No-waiting Hot Water

Rob Wood — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:48:49 -0500

I've used a hot water recirculation pump in my home for the last five years with great results. It not only saves many gallons per day, but I get nearly instant hot water at the taps. Instead of wasting three minutes worth of water in the shower, I get in, turn it on, and within seconds I have hot water. Recirculation systems have been used for decades in hotels and hi-rises. It is surprising they are rarely used in residential settings. But it makes more sense than ever with today's larger homes and multiple bathrooms. If you are reasonably handy you can install one yourself for a couple of hundred dollars, or you can hire a plumber to install one. Google "hot water recirculator" for more details or email me and I'll tell you how I did mine.

Water conservation tips

danbarkin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:19:40 -0400

While we're hoping for rain to bail us out, most of us will be dealing with restrictions on the water we can use. So we'd like to see if there are any good ideas out there on ways to reduce water consumption and ease the strain on municipal supplies. Post any water-saving ideas you have here.

While we're hoping for rain to bail us out, most of us will be dealing with restrictions on the water we can use. So…