Ways to reduce water consumption

[Kali]

In Brisbane we are currently on level 6 water restrictions. This means that each person can use up to 140 litres of water per day. People here are now pretty obsessed with saving water, as the combined dam levels are under 40% (double last years levels but still dodgy) While others here may not experiencing drought, there is always the possibility in the future so I've made a little list of ways to cut back on water consumption. It's not complete as it's pretty early in the morning here, but I hope it's useful.

Ways to reduce water consumption

Collect the water wasted in the shower while the water is heating up, with a bucket.
Wash hands with the tap off
Brush teeth with the tap off
Shave using a cup of water
Collect greywater from your bath, shower and sinks and use to water the garden or to fill the toilets.
Collect greywater from your washing machine and use on lawns or to fill toilets
Collect rainwater from your roof with a water tank/butt. Use on the garden, pool or to fill toilets.
Fix leaky taps and toilets. Can save you up to 2000L/day
Fix aerators onto taps.
Rinse vegetables in a bowl rather than under a tap, use on the garden
scrape pots rather than rinsing before you put them in the dishwasher.
Have a shower instead of a bath
Shower in 4 mins
Get a dual flush toilet short flush can be a low as 3 litres where as old toilets can use up to 20+ litres per flush
Get a composting toilet
Wash your car with a bucket not a hose.
Cover your pool with a blanket, fixed leaks or just fill the bugger in.
Mulch your garden beds
Water your garden less often but deeper
Mow your lawn less often allowing the grass to grow higher, reduces evaporation and water requirements.
Grow the right plants for your climate

[Yo Mama]

We're starting a drought in Cali at the moment. We aren't allowed to wash our own cars, but have to use a car wash.

But most people around here haven't gone to the extremes you must be used to. It's probably going to come to that though.

[apeci]

Good tips. A note of caution on using waste water from sinks and the washing machine on the garden. Make sure the soap your using will not harm the plants. Definitely don't use water with bleach or any other harsh cleaning agents.

Also to save water in the garden water early in the morning so you have less evaporative loss. Drip irrigation or soaker hoses will use less water than sprinklers because they will get the water directly on the soil instead of wasted on foliage. Build or buy a rain barrel to collect gutter water to use on the garden.

In the house don't forget the old standby... if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down.

[Kali]

Thanks for the additional tips. I think I remember reading somewhere, that the laundry liquids etc in the US are safe for use as greywater, as phosphates are restricted, I don't know if that is correct tho. Normal powders and liquids down here can certainly trash your plants after one use:)





In the house don't forget the old standby... if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down.

Tried that and failed. My hybrids went into shock at the suggestion. Permanently damaged they are now:)

[apeci]

Yeah I use dish soap as an emulsifier for neem oil to make a pesticide spray and my plants certainly don't seem to mind. A lot of times wetting agents are just some kind of fairly inert soap. Someone trying it for the first time should just be careful... check out the ingredients and maybe test the pH to make sure it's not crazy. Maybe just water a couple plants and if they don't care after a few days, go for it.

Hybrids... I like that. :)

[Kali]

Yeah I use dish soap as an emulsifier for neem oil to make a pesticide spray and my plants certainly don't seem to mind. A lot of times wetting agents are just some kind of fairly inert soap. Someone trying it for the first time should just be careful... check out the ingredients and maybe test the pH to make sure it's not crazy. Maybe just water a couple plants and if they don't care after a few days, go for it.

Thanks that's an idea. I haven't tried neem oil yet, how much soap and neem oil would you use?



Hybrids... I like that. :)

They're full on aliens really, I want my girls returned to me:)

[Kali]

We're starting a drought in Cali at the moment. We aren't allowed to wash our own cars, but have to use a car wash.



We are allowed to only wash the side mirrors and windscreens with a damp cloth, LOL. Car washes are OK, if they are eco friendly, which I'm assuming they are now. I never washed my car before the drought if I could get away with it, so it's not really a problem for me. Does waste water get recycled in Cali? I'm assuming that with the size of the population there it is a necessity. Down here there was a lot of resistance to recycling waste water, but I think everyone has accepted it as a necessity now.

[apeci]

Thanks that's an idea. I haven't tried neem oil yet, how much soap and neem oil would you use?
1 tsp each per quart warm water (5ml/l)

[Oblivion]

heres a few things that always get up my goat with water restrictions.

they give homes heavy water restrictions, but industry does not concern itself very much because they can still afford to pay for water.

in south oz we have some of the heaviest water restrictions and poorest water quality in Au.

1)sydneys at the murray river inlet and first in line to gobble up whatever supply it wants, flushes any crud (literally) into the murray for anyone downstream.

2)why do we grow rice interstate, for export? its uneconomical on water use
3)why do we grow cotton for export. again, uneconomical water use.

and so we end up with nothing more than a muddy trickle down stream and even more dependance on a good rainfall season.
---------------

then we have all these big dumb jerks from the "green camp" who think that a hydrogen powered car that runs on pure water is a great idea. :idea:

WAKE UP DICK HEADS! if we are already on heavy water restrictions and people start converting over to these new age cars, what do you think is going to happen to water price + supply?
if you cant wash your car, do you REALLY think you will be allowed to just burn up tank after tank and only pay about $50 for every kilolitre you use over your yearly water allowance.

South Oz's water quality + supply problems stem directly from those upstream who use it as they please and flush sewage + industry waste into it.
the abuse of the murray really has to be addressed + stopped by all who abuse her.

she's like a good woman who has lived with 3 alcoholic, abusive, wife beating husbands for the past 40 years. whoever takes on the challenge of correcting past mistakes sure has their work cut out for them :cry:


go to your local swimming centre during school holidays, find the kiddy pool and go in and take a big drink.
savour all those flavours. go ahead, i dare you. :twisted:

[boycotteverything]

WAKE UP DICK HEADS! i second that emotion. if water weren't necessary for distilling jack daniels they'd have banned the crap years ago. just think of how many drownings could have been prevented.

[apeci]

Hopefully these water shortages will encourage private enterprise to seek out new economical methods of desalination. It's ridiculous to have water supply problems on a planet over two thirds covered in water.

[boycotteverything]

i just remind you that it is 'private enterprise' that is pissing in the well.

[apeci]

Irrelevant. They want fresh water too. However I'm guessing in AUS just as it is in most places in the States the local government manages or subsidizes waste water treatment and disposal. Flushing the toilet opens the flood gates of bureaucracy.

[boycotteverything]

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2006/12-05/industrial-pollution-copyright1.gif

they want fresh water too...

[apeci]

Looks like a government bureaucrat if I ever saw one.

However as I stated once before if you feel you have been harmed by a private business polluting, sue. Oh that's right you can't... because government controls navigable waterways. Get the Government out of it and you have a property damage claim for someone dumping some crap in the river that flows through your land. Spouting a bunch of anti-freedom rhetoric and caricatures only speaks to your ignorance when government is the greatest polluter on the planet.

[boycotteverything]

don't know how you've failed to notice- but government is owned lock, stock and barrel by corporate thieves. choose your poison.

[apeci]

Government is the thief. Government dumps chemical weapons in the oceans, tests nuclear bombs on inhabited islands, and rains down radioactive artillery on entire countries. Dupont pouring some crap into the river that runs by their factory doesn't begin to compare. But even going with your logic, eliminate government involvement and there's nobody for corporations to hide behind (assuming they would then exist at all as corporations are creations of government...). Get rid of government protections and when some business pollutes your land you and you can prove it you are entitled to restoration and restitution. Sorry tovarish, you're blaming the wrong bandits.

[boycotteverything]

Get rid of government protections and when some business pollutes your land you and you can prove it you are entitled to restoration and restitution. Sorry tovarish, you're blaming the wrong bandits.

How 'bout we just get rid of government and their butt boyz altogether and reclaim the whole fucking planet? No more petty greed. Demand primal greed.


Humanity won’t be happy till the last capitalist is hung
with the guts of the last bureaucrat.
a Situationalist graffiti, 1968

[Bitchkoma]

Can't fully get rid of government. There has to be an organizational structure.

[boycotteverything]

There has to be an organizational structure

anarchy is natural structure. not just a slogan but the natural way to live. don't confuse anarchy with chaos.

[apeci]

I don't think anarchy is possible to achieve, as such I would settle for minarchy. Let government take care of common defense, roads, etc. The rest should be handled by free market capitalism. It's the closest thing to anarchy that's realistic against history. Voluntary interaction, contractual obligations, and above all, freedom.

[Bitchkoma]

How do you deal with unfair market practices? Government?

[apeci]

If you mean by eliminating government, sure. I don't think such a thing truly exists without government. Many of what people call "unfair market practices" can be broken down into real crimes such as theft, espionage, or breach of contract. Monopolies able to wield absolute control over market forces are exceedingly rare and never last in the absence of government protection because competition will always bring them down.

An on topic example: my local water company has a government installed monopoly on water services in this city. As long as the government gives them the thumbs up they can dump as much crap into the rivers as they want and there's nothing anybody can do about it. This would indeed be an unfair market practice in that because of government I can't start my own super-clean water-saving water company to compete. Say I found some really cheap desalination method and I could sell tap water for a fraction of what the other water company sells their chemical laden crap for. Since the government would deny me a business license and use violence to shut me down if I decided to start selling water anyway, if I want this technology to get out my only option is to hand it over to the government water company. That's a true unfair market practice.

[boycotteverything]

I don't think anarchy is possible to achieve, as such I would settle for minarchy. Let government take care of common defense, roads, etc. The rest should be handled by free market capitalism. It's the closest thing to anarchy that's realistic against history. Voluntary interaction, contractual obligations, and above all, freedom.

Free market capitalism requires a medium of monetary exchange which in turn presupposes the very big government that you say you oppose. Anarchy, on the other hand, would rely on barter. And not only is it possible to achieve but has been achieved over and over again throughout human history- most recently, on this continent, amongst the Indian nations.

We only need to allow our imagination to reject this absurdly complex uber-materalistic artifice that we call 'capitalism.'


...and above all, freedom.

As another famous Indianan and honorary Amkoid said so many yeras ago: "Freedom's just another word for nuthin' left to lose..."

[apeci]

A medium of monetary exchange is bartering under the free market. I think you're confusing this with a fiat money system. Money is just representative of labor. Even gold and silver simply represent the labor used to locate, mine, and coin it. Any value assigned by decree beyond that and it becomes fiat. And yes, fiat money depends on government to levy false value.

And last I checked the US Government still has their thumb on the Indian nations. That's the problem with anarchistic society. There aren't any because they never survive. There will always be some thug on the block willing to use violence against you. Keeping people armed is the only real defense, but even that hasn't worked out too well. Believe me I would love to see it happen. I'm hoping we can get close to it in New Hampshire. With current technology and communications ability, we'll stand a better chance than anyone ever has.

[boycotteverything]

And who then shall mint the coinage for your materialistic utopia? And New Hampshire? Last I looked it was nothing more than tired little appendage to Massachusetts. The dross of Massachusetts of drains into NH like the effluent of a boil.

[apeci]

Whoever wants to mint them. Everybody can have their own currency if they so please. The free market then decides what becomes the most common medium of exchange. This is how it was done before fiat money came into play. If people wanted to use seashells, they used seashells. The Liberty Dollar for example is a currency backed by gold and silver that has been rapidly increasing in acceptance against the flailing US Dollar. That is until federal agents illegally raided them and seized all their metals. The Fed just can't bare competition, and the free market stands as the greatest threat to government there is.

You'll get no argument from me that Massholes can be something of a nuisance.

OK... anything else... start a thread. I can't keep this tangent on topic anymore. :)

[Bitchkoma]

Tangent or not it was quite educational.

[boycotteverything]

The free market then decides what becomes the most common medium of exchange.
hence: anarchy.

I knew we agreed on this basic issue. It's only your bad faith and your desire for Japanese cars that separates you from truth.

[apeci]

Ooook. Anyway...

Another way to save water is to reuse bath water. My dad was the smallest of his brothers and sisters and therefore was always last to use the tub. By the time he took a bath the water was brown. 50x8 gallons saved. :)

[Bitchkoma]

That's just nasty. A sponge bath would be a better alternative.