Water Conservation in the Wet Northwest

As my relatives in Minot North Dakota are being flooded out of their homes, I feel sadly blessed that we have been spared the wrath of natural disasters that have hit the world this year.   Who was it that said, 'take care of nature or nature will take care of you?' Actually, I think it was me.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a fanatic about water conservation.  I hit several brick walls in my efforts to implement conservation programs over a large population base, mainly because the cost of water to us is so low.  We do not have an economic incentive to conserve water.  We conserve water only when/because we want to do the 'right thing.'

Recently I received a couple publications from Seattle Public Utilities that gave me a glimmer of hope.  The first was the Drinking Water Quality Report which reported that our drinking water was very clean, that it costs us LESS than a Penny a Gallon to have water delivered to our taps, and that we have one of the best drinking water systems in the nation.  Quite impressive.  In the very last paragraph, however,  SPU noted that elevated levels of lead and copper are often found in our drinking water due to corroded plumbing systems.  ALERT!  SPU is working hard to get clean water to you, but if you actually want to drink or cook with clean water you need to confirm that you do not have corroded plumbing.  In a city that is mainly compromised of older homes, I would guess that there lots of households that have not replaced the plumbing in their homes.  Health Tip of the Day: When you remodel a kitchen or bath, due yourself a healthy favor and replace as much of the old plumbing that you can afford to.

The second flyer had a section on a new program that was MY IDEA (thank god someone is implementing it!)  Qualified customers in Seattle can get a FREE water-efficient toilet and have it installed by a licensed plumber for FREE if they meet income guidelines.  (My program did not offer the toilet nor the installation for free, so this is actually a better program) Household income for 2 people can be up to $3,273 a month to qualify. PLUS, the picture that is in the flyer is the stylish Kohler Persuade toilet.  I am hoping this is the toilet being given away, but even if not, it indicates that it is probably a Kohler toilet and that is a good thing.  American made, family owned company in Kohler, Wisconsin, Kohler has made an effort to meet and beat the WaterSense guidelines for water conservation and have a large array of HET's available.  HET is tech talk for High Efficiency Toilets.  Who said I wasn't a techy?  Ciao!

My Green Toilet Water

Many of you know about my obsession about water conservation.  I fully believe that without water there is no life - the full WATER=LIFE mantra.  There are MANY people in the world that do not have potable (drinkable) water at their fingertips.  Those of us that have grown up in industrialized countries often have no idea that we are the minority, we are a dot in the impressionistic oil painting of the earth.  That most people in the world do not have indoor plumbing, cars or electricity.  Do you realize that we use drinkable, treated water (it costs a lot of money to treat water) to flush our toilets?  I know that it is strange that as a person living in a very wet location of the earth in a city that has to GIVE away water efficient toilets to apartment building owners and commercial property owners because water is SO cheap in the Northwest, that I am determined to make a difference in water usage and conservation.  If no where else, at least at my own home.  Thus began my 'water' project, aka 'Christine walks the talk.'

THE PROJECT:

I am using locally obtained rainwater and directing it to a 'designed' perforations in my gutter and reusing the rainwater to create a waterfall outside my window.  The rainwater will drop into a tank disguised as a shallow pond and will filter through several layers of of rock, sand and various materials that will clean the water.  The water is then stored in underground tanks that are located underneath my deck.  The filtered recycled rainwater will be pumped to my toilets to be used for flushing.  If I run out of stored rainwater, the system will revert to obtaining water from the city.  In the end, I hope to save up to 7,457 gallons a year in water bills by re-using the rainwater that falls on my roof.  And, I will be able to look in the mirror again.