RALEIGH - YOU HAVE TO GET PRIMED TO SPIT!!
Raleigh, North Carolina. Record Heat Bakes the Area. It appears that August may turn out to be both the hotest August and the hotest month in Raleigh’s history. That is an honer we could well do without. Raleigh, Wake County, most of North Carolina and indeed many other states are having moderate to severe dought and water problems. Water conservation is the name of the game and there are many things that everyone can do to help “take the heat off” of the situation.
With regard to saving water, taking care of mundane matters can be very helpful. So please, no “everybody knows that” comments. The more you look into this matter the more ways you can find to help and the more interesting it gets. You may well know these things but do you practice them and do you know the water amounts involved? Let’s start with a couple of ”biggies”. If you are in the process of building, or getting ready to build, a new home permeable pavement and pavers can really help take a load off of storm drains and help reduce polution that goes into lakes or reservoirs when it does rain. Rain on the roof runs down the drive into the street, down the storm drain and carries with it, into the lake, tar, oil, asphalt, and other poluting things. Pavers allow much of this water to percolate into the soil which keeps the lawn in better condition and cleans the water the way nature intended. Single-unit washer/dryers are front-loading machines that both wash and dry clothes. They save both water and energy compared to separate units. At this point I have not checked into Consumer Reports to see what, if anything, they have to say about such machines.
Kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms within a home are the where our real water savings come from. Depending on how a garage is used, it can also be an area where considerable water savings can be had. Today, lets start with the kitchen. Whoever draws the short straw and has to wash the dishes, wash them by hand. Use the least amount of detergent you can as this helps to minimize the rinse water needed. Don’t let the water run when you rinse. If you have two sinks wash in one and fill the other with water for rinsing purposes. If you have only one sink use a spray device with short spritzes. Doing this can save from 200 to 500 gallons a month! When you are cleaning your veggies don’t let the faucet run. Wash them in a filled sink or a large pan. This saves another 150 to 250 gallon per month. Running water is often used to defrost frozen foods. Don’t do it. Either place them in the frig overnight or defrost (where possible) in the microwave. This is good for another 50 to 150 gallon saving. Use the garbage more and the garbage disposal less - if at all. This saves 50 to 150 gallons a month. Add it all up and these water savings range from 450 to 1,050 gallons. Oh yes, you might take a look at what your cost per gallon is and see what amount of dollars you would save as well. TIP - my wife freezes a substantial amount of our garbage in plastic bags all during the week. It takes care of most of what would otherwise go down the disposal, gets rid of the odors, the bags go easily into our main garbage bags during pickup day and most certainly helps give a breath of fresh air (or at least fresher air) to our garbage pickup people. Tomorrow, water saving in the bathroom.
John Fish (919) 696-3474 Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com Website:www.JohnFish.com
