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Saving (City) Water
Oct. 24th, 2018 09:49 pmExciting times!
Flooding in Austin (from probably hurricane-related rains) has roiled up the water in the river that we getting our drinking water from so much that the silt, mud, and debris in it is clogging the filters much more quickly than usual. Fresh water has to be used to clean the filters. As a result, the city is only able to provide 100 million gallons of water a day instead of their usual 300 million gallon capacity (for the first time ever), and residents typically use 120 million gallons per day. Excess water is stored, but some of that water needs to be saved for other purposes such as to keep a safe water pressure for fighting fires. Therefore we are being asked to conserve water, specifically to use 15-20% less than we usually use.
Meanwhile, they have stopped providing water treatment as perfectly as they can (to keep up that water pressure), so they have asked that we boil our water (for three minutes) before ingesting it. The next day, the turbidity was so high at one point that they had to tell us to boil it by law, but we got a nice warning ahead of time. Last I heard, the water still did not have a bacteria problem or anything, but it's still a good precaution. And also nice to have a little time practicing remembering.
We are not allowed to water our yards or foundations (not a problem, since it's still raining) or use water to wash our driveways, etc. I don't do any of that, so it's tough for me to figure out ways to save water. My first thought was that it's a good time to go on vacation! But cool things are happening here right now (friends visiting from out of state, parties).
So here are the ways I use water and what I have thought of to use less.
Drinking
My favorite beverages are tap water, milk, and orange juice. I am accidentally drinking less water because I have to boil it first and sometimes it's not ready. I already buy regular milk (not powdered milk). I did use this as an excuse to buy a carton of orange-strawberry-banana juice rather than a can of orange juice that needs to be reconstituted.
Of course, people are also buying bottled water. Shelves emptied out immediately, but supply is increasing. I don't want to take it instead of people who need it more, but even if supplies catch up, I'm not into all that plastic, and I don't want to change.
Friends of mine in a nearby unaffected town have offered to let people come and fill up bottles of water. If they're not home, just use the outside spigot. Nice, eh? I have not taken advantage of this.
Eating
I'm trying to favor dishes that don't require added water. So I haven't had pasta. I have had French toast, eggs, cereal, and soup from a can that doesn't need added water. And I've eaten Robin's pizza. And I've eaten out once (bringing my own drinking water). Future plans include sandwiches, tostadas (technically another kind of sandwich), salads, and yogurt. It's time to try my idea of mixing plain yogurt and canned pumpkin plus sugar and pumpkin pie spices.
Showering
Try to sweat less (ha ha!). We already have a low-flow shower head. I turn off the water while soaping up. I keep forgetting, but I could catch the water that comes out while waiting for the warm water and boil that for consumption or dish washing.
Dish washing
Ugh. I'm actually using more for this because I'm hand washing dishes like usual, and then boiling up a big pot of water for a final rinse. I did think to use sliced cheese instead of grating cheese so I don't have to wash the grater, but Robin already used the grater, so I used it, too. Any lid that's just got condensation on it from boiling water just goes into the dish rack to dry without washing it first.
Laundry
The city recommends holding off on doing laundry, but I can only dry one load of laundry per day, so it's not good to let it pile up too much. I'm holding off on washing the sheets. I'm wearing certain clothes more than once before washing, but I always do that. (Minimizing the sweat would be good here, too.) I sort of want to run out and get a front-loading washer right now (they use less water). I mean, it's on my list of things to do already. But our old machine still works.
Tooth brushing
I already don't run the water while brushing my teeth, so I don't see how to save here.
Toilet flushing
We already have a low-flow toilet. I'm flushing it less often (only when the water isn't very pale and clear). The city recommends not using the toilet for a trash can, but I already don't do that.
In conclusion, we should conserve water both when we don't have enough and when we have too much.
How long? At first they wouldn't say, but it sounded like first we have to wait for the water to settle down, which means waiting until the rain stops for a while. Then they have to finish their clean up and re-stocking. So my guess was however long it takes to stop raining plus a week. Now people are saying at least two weeks.
Flooding in Austin (from probably hurricane-related rains) has roiled up the water in the river that we getting our drinking water from so much that the silt, mud, and debris in it is clogging the filters much more quickly than usual. Fresh water has to be used to clean the filters. As a result, the city is only able to provide 100 million gallons of water a day instead of their usual 300 million gallon capacity (for the first time ever), and residents typically use 120 million gallons per day. Excess water is stored, but some of that water needs to be saved for other purposes such as to keep a safe water pressure for fighting fires. Therefore we are being asked to conserve water, specifically to use 15-20% less than we usually use.
Meanwhile, they have stopped providing water treatment as perfectly as they can (to keep up that water pressure), so they have asked that we boil our water (for three minutes) before ingesting it. The next day, the turbidity was so high at one point that they had to tell us to boil it by law, but we got a nice warning ahead of time. Last I heard, the water still did not have a bacteria problem or anything, but it's still a good precaution. And also nice to have a little time practicing remembering.
We are not allowed to water our yards or foundations (not a problem, since it's still raining) or use water to wash our driveways, etc. I don't do any of that, so it's tough for me to figure out ways to save water. My first thought was that it's a good time to go on vacation! But cool things are happening here right now (friends visiting from out of state, parties).
So here are the ways I use water and what I have thought of to use less.
Drinking
My favorite beverages are tap water, milk, and orange juice. I am accidentally drinking less water because I have to boil it first and sometimes it's not ready. I already buy regular milk (not powdered milk). I did use this as an excuse to buy a carton of orange-strawberry-banana juice rather than a can of orange juice that needs to be reconstituted.
Of course, people are also buying bottled water. Shelves emptied out immediately, but supply is increasing. I don't want to take it instead of people who need it more, but even if supplies catch up, I'm not into all that plastic, and I don't want to change.
Friends of mine in a nearby unaffected town have offered to let people come and fill up bottles of water. If they're not home, just use the outside spigot. Nice, eh? I have not taken advantage of this.
Eating
I'm trying to favor dishes that don't require added water. So I haven't had pasta. I have had French toast, eggs, cereal, and soup from a can that doesn't need added water. And I've eaten Robin's pizza. And I've eaten out once (bringing my own drinking water). Future plans include sandwiches, tostadas (technically another kind of sandwich), salads, and yogurt. It's time to try my idea of mixing plain yogurt and canned pumpkin plus sugar and pumpkin pie spices.
Showering
Try to sweat less (ha ha!). We already have a low-flow shower head. I turn off the water while soaping up. I keep forgetting, but I could catch the water that comes out while waiting for the warm water and boil that for consumption or dish washing.
Dish washing
Ugh. I'm actually using more for this because I'm hand washing dishes like usual, and then boiling up a big pot of water for a final rinse. I did think to use sliced cheese instead of grating cheese so I don't have to wash the grater, but Robin already used the grater, so I used it, too. Any lid that's just got condensation on it from boiling water just goes into the dish rack to dry without washing it first.
Laundry
The city recommends holding off on doing laundry, but I can only dry one load of laundry per day, so it's not good to let it pile up too much. I'm holding off on washing the sheets. I'm wearing certain clothes more than once before washing, but I always do that. (Minimizing the sweat would be good here, too.) I sort of want to run out and get a front-loading washer right now (they use less water). I mean, it's on my list of things to do already. But our old machine still works.
Tooth brushing
I already don't run the water while brushing my teeth, so I don't see how to save here.
Toilet flushing
We already have a low-flow toilet. I'm flushing it less often (only when the water isn't very pale and clear). The city recommends not using the toilet for a trash can, but I already don't do that.
In conclusion, we should conserve water both when we don't have enough and when we have too much.
How long? At first they wouldn't say, but it sounded like first we have to wait for the water to settle down, which means waiting until the rain stops for a while. Then they have to finish their clean up and re-stocking. So my guess was however long it takes to stop raining plus a week. Now people are saying at least two weeks.