WATER CONSERVATION
Why It Is Important
California is a semi-arid state which receives a limited amount of water per year. There are many competing needs for this water, with almost half of it now designated for urban and agricultural use. The rest is allocated for managed wetlands, stream and river flow, and maintaining the Delta ecology. A tremendous amount of water is used during the production of electricity. As time goes on, balancing these water needs will be more challenging because:
- Our state population is increasing.
- Our water supply varies year to year and will potentially decrease over time because of reduced snow pack from climate change.
- Increased energy needs will require more water.
- More water is needed in the natural environment to prevent species extinction (such as the Delta smelt).
In addition, the California law SBx7-7 requires use to decrease by at least 10% by 2015 and 20% by 2020.
All of this means that every Californian is going to have to learn to use less water than we currently consume.
There are a number of benefits to conserving water, including:
1. Less need to develop new water treatment facilities, infrastructure, and new water storage — a process that often causes unfavorable environmental repercussions;
2. The maintenance of adequate water levels in rivers, streams, and the Delta for healthy aquatic ecosystems;
3. Reduced need to overdraw from groundwater resources, which can be vulnerable to depletion and contamination;
4. Reduced energy consumption and greenhouse gas production for water and wastewater development, treatment, and distribution. (The California Energy Commission estimated that water-related energy use consumes 19 percent of the state’s electricity, 30 percent of its natural gas, and 88 billion gallons of diesel fuel each year.)
Water Usage in Los Altos
According to our local water retailer, Calwater, the 2009 Los Altos district residential water use per day (GPCD) was 165 gallons/person and about 543 gallons/household. You can see look at your water bill or go to http://calwater.com/your_account/usage.php to see your 2010 usage and from that you can understand what your usage should be in 2015 and 2020.
Los Altos uses a lot of water relative to neighboring communities, as shown in the table below.
Annual residential gallons per day from July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010.
| Los Altos Hills | 256 |
| Los Altos | 157 |
| Palo Alto | 96 |
| Menlo Park | 94 |
| Sunnyvale | 83 |
| Redwood City | 73 |
| Mountain View | 72 |
| East Palo Alto | 46 |
Source of above numbers: Los Altos data is from CalWater. All other numbers from http://bawsca.org/annual-survey/
The Santa Clara Valley Water District estimates that local resident water use is divided in the following ways.
| Outdoors | 52% |
| Toilets | 10% |
| Shower | 10% |
| Laundry | 10% |
| Leaks | 9% |
| Faucets | 8% |
| Baths | 1% |
| Dishwashers | 1% |
| Total | 100% |
Saving Water Indoors
If every household in Los Altos (10,000) replaced a 3.5 gallon/flush toilet with a 1.6 gal toilet, then for 2 flushes/day the city would save 38,000 gallons/day (3.5-1.6 x 2 x 10,000) or 13.8 million gallons/year.
Top 10 Ways to Save Waters Indoors
1. Get a "Water Wise House Call" from the Santa Clara Valley Water District http://valleywater.org/programs/ConservationAtHome.aspx, if you have not already. A trained specialist will come to your house and identify ways of conserving water, both indoor and outdoor. The specialist will also identify if you have any leaks in your residential water system.
2. Upgrade your water-using fixtures and appliances: If you have not remodeled recently, see if you can replace inefficient fixtures and appliances, such as toilets, washers, showerheads, faucet aerators, etc. The Water District http://valleywater.org/programs/ConservationAtHome.aspx offers rebates.
3. Fix Leaks: Leaky faucets can waste up to 20 gallons per day.
4. Shower Smarter: Make sure your shower has a low-flow showerhead, which can save 15 gallons/shower. If you do have a low-flow showerhead (2½-3 gallons per minute), take shorter showers. You can save up to 3 gallons for each minute less you shower.
5. Wash only full loads of laundry: Save 15 to 50 gallons per load.
6. Carefully cook and hand wash dishes. Lots of water can be wasted while cleaning vegetables, etc. When it comes to cleanup, the dishwasher is usually more water efficient than hand washing dishes. When you do hand wash, run the water only when you need to rinse a pot or dish.
7. Avoid running the water while you wait for the hot: Get an tankless hot water heater, install an on-demand pump, or capture the cold tap water until it turns hot and then use this water on the garden.
8. Turn off the water when you brush your teeth or shave: Save 3+ gallons per day.
9. Choose Your Foods Wisely: Roughly 1.5 million gallons of water are needed to produce the food consumed each year by the average US resident. Conserve water through the foods you eat; choose less meat and more whole grains (you could save more water by skipping a pound of beef than by taking shorter showers for a year).
|
Heavy Water Usage |
Compared to… |
| • Almonds: 1,280 gal/pound | • Pasta: 288 |
| • Beef: 2,500-5,000 | • Rice 256-400 |
| • Butter: 2,044 | • Bread: 126-198 gal/pound |
| • Pork: 1,630 | • Milk: 96 |
| • Cheese: 896 | • Broccoli: 65 |
| • Chicken: 815 | • Potatoes: 60 |
| • Eggs: 573 | • Lettuce: 23 |
10. Flush less. Each flush uses 1.6 or more gallons.
11. Bonus: Install a solar water heater. These systems do not save water, but by using the sun to heat the water, you save natural gas usage and produce less greenhouse gases. These systems offer a good payback.
Additional Resources
Tips for indoor water conservation:
http://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/indoor-tips/index.php
Saving Water Outdoors
Our local water retailers estimate that a large amount of potable water used in our communities is for landscaping:
- Los Altos 50+%
- Los Altos Hills 78%
If you have remodeled recently, your indoor fixtures and appliances are probably already water efficient. Therefore, the easiest way to reduce your overall water bill is to reduce outdoor water usage.
Outdoor Example:
According to CalWater, in the Los Altos district the average residential single family household used 170,755 gallons in 2010. About 50% of that was for irrigation. If households used 10% less irrigation water/year, that would be a savings of 85.4 million gallons/year! (10% x 170,755 x 50% x 10,000 households)
Benefits of Landscape Water Conservation
There are many benefits to landscape water conservation and the use of native plants, including:
- Reduced water demand, resulting in lower water bills, less water pulled from the Delta and other sources, less energy used for pumping and purification, and less needed to fund future water supply and purification infrastructure projects.
- Reduced runoff, soil erosion, and costs for storm water management
- Reduced use of lawn chemicals (pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides). The EPA estimates that 70 million pounds of lawn chemicals are applied in the US each year and growing 5-8%/year.
- Reduced service and energy costs for maintenance (electric and gas mowers, etc.)
- Reduced air and noise pollution. Cal Air Resources Board claims that a 3.5 hp lawn mower running for 30 minutes emits the same amount of hydrocarbon pollution by products as a 1997 car going 85 miles.
- Longer life for lawn maintenance equipment
- Reduced labor costs
- Increased native plant, insect, bird, and animal diversity on land and in the streams
- Reduced plant disease, rot, and mortality caused by overwatering
Top 10 Ways to Save Waters Outdoors
1. Get a "Water Wise House Call" from the Santa Clara Valley Water District http://valleywater.org/programs/ConservationAtHome.aspx, if you have not already. A trained specialist will come to your house and identify ways of conserving water, both indoor and outdoor. The specialist will also identify if you have any leaks in your residential water system.
2. Remove some turf and use native plants: Remove turf areas that your family does not use and potentially realize 15-50% outdoor water savings. Frank Niccoli, a local landscape expert estimates that each 600 sq ft. costs at least $1,000/year in water, maintenance, fertilizers, etc. Replace turf and other landscape areas with drought-tolerant plants (ideally California natives as they support the local ecology). Take advantage of the water district rebate for turf removal: http://valleywater.org/Programs/LandscapeRebateProgram.aspx. Native plant benefits are explained at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7WuAhHWEzc
3. Spread a layer of organic mulch around trees and plants. This can save hundreds of gallons of water by retaining moisture while rejuvenating the soil. For mulching tips: http://www.bewaterwise.com/Gardensoft/tips_04_02.html . Free mulch is available at the Sunnyvale SMART station, 408 752-8530.
4. Irrigation equipment: Check your system, repair leaks, and replace damaged sprinkler heads. Convert some or all zones to drip. Install a "Smart" weather-based controller or rain sensor, utilizing the generous rebate from the water district: http://valleywater.org/Programs/LandscapeRebateProgram.aspx
5. Irrigation schedule: Try to reduce each watering time by one minute. Water your yard only before 8 a.m. to reduce evaporation and interference from wind. Water without waste, shortening zone times if puddles or runoff occur. If you do not have a weather-based irrigation controller, adjust the watering amount monthly by the following factors, using July as the base month when the most water is needed. (from Cal Dept of Water Resources):
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 0% | 0% | 5% | 30% | 60% | 90% | 100% | 90% | 60% | 30% | 5% | 0% |
6. Keep swimming pools covered when not in use to eliminate evaporation.
7. Wash your car at the carwash instead of at home (this saves water and prevents polluting runoff from flowing into the streams).
8. Use shut-off nozzles on hoses. A half-inch garden hose shoots 75 gallons of water in 15 minutes. A 5/8" hose uses 96 gallons in 15 minutes and one that is ¾" loses 132 gallons in 15 minutes. Use a broom instead of water to clean the drive.
9. Gray Water (from the clothes washer or bathroom sinks) can be used for irrigation. Detailed information about gray water can be found at http://www.whollyh2o.org/graywater.html
10. Rainwater harvesting — capturing water from your roof — can save water. A 3,000 sq foot roof could produce about 28,000 gallons of rainfall per year and prevent all that water from running into the storm drains and into the creeks. A thorough handbook can be found at http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/publications/reports/rainwaterharvestingmanual_3rdedition.pdf
Additional tips for outdoor water conservation can be found here.