Conserve water!

All of our condo buildings have cisterns under them, when they run out we switch to city water. The water fee to owners is the same regardless. All the AC units are plumbed to drain to the cisterns.

The newer high efficiency clothes washing machines, dish washers, toilets are water misers. Switch to those if you really want to conserve water. The washers automatically adjust water usage for load size. The wash cycles are much longer than they used to be due to low water usage. May end up paying more for electric to save water though. New toilet I put in seems to use even less water than the government mandated limit and works great, just a quick whoosh and no clogs. Juts keep in mind that the older toilets were designed to flush with all that water. You put a brick in and get less water and may end up flushing twice.

scubadoo: Does the a/c drain into the potable water cistern or a gray water cistern?

And if I'm not mistaken, Pammerjo bought a condo, probably has all the water her renters want at .06 or or more a gallon. Long term renters (who have to pay water) aren't the problem, it's the vacation rental market that love water and leaving the a/c on while the doors are open.

Yep we're at Cowpet West. We pay .08/gal. I have little signs posted everywhere to conserve and that I send a personal note to each renter the day before they arrive, stressing how precious water is and to please use conservatively. One thing I really don't want to be is a "nanny landlord" and so far people have been really respectful (*SO FAR*) so I don't see the need to build water and electricity limits into the contract. Of course there will be a few idiots, but here's hoping they'll be the rare ones.

Did I read correctly that in some places it's illegal to collect rainwater?? How on EARTH can that possibly be illegal? I mean - how the hell would they even go about monitoring that and why should someone be penalized for using a natural resource? crazy world.

Feh.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/rainwater-harvesting.aspx

Keep a clean roof, gutters and downspouts, check downspout screens and keep clean. Cut overhanging tree branches and their leaves off the roof and gutter line.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/rainwater-harvesting.aspx

I just......

now I'm gonna haveta put buckets under my downspouts here in NY just to be contrary.

Did I read correctly that in some places it's illegal to collect rainwater?? How on EARTH can that possibly be illegal? I mean - how the hell would they even go about monitoring that and why should someone be penalized for using a natural resource? crazy world.
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I feel the same way about so many HOAs, condo associations and municipalities banning the use of outdoor laundry lines. I guess one's smalls and sheets blowing in the breeze are way more of a travesty than energy-gobbling automatic dryers ... yes, the world is peopled by crazies!

 

yeah - well - I guess that's one reason people buy in a condo assn - because they want everything neat and uniform. We don't really have the space at Cowpet except on the lawn which would be a communal situation and would probably get messy and confusing and mess up the view of the beach and bay blah blah blah. We're not even allowed to hang damp beach towels over the railings on our balconies...I just drape everything over the chairs and most others do as well. Lots of people have drying racks that can't be seen from the ground and air dry their laundry that way. We DO try...:S

The laws against collecting rainwater are in place because people were buying land and diverting natural flow areas into huge collection areas, making artificial lakes. Like usual some greedy f@ckstain ruined it for everyone in those areas

The house I'm renting on the east end of St Croix has a cistern and well hooked up. I LOVE my long showers! Especially on those hot days.

The laws against collecting rainwater are in place because people were buying land and diverting natural flow areas into huge collection areas, making artificial lakes. Like usual some greedy f@ckstain ruined it for everyone in those areas

Likewise in areas that are watershed for the rivers and lakes in the west, that water has already been "paid for" by Vegas and LA..... Some areas you can't even have a rain barrel. And yes, they have people that drive around and monitor it.

I have a 2 stage flushing toilet for #1 and #2 flushes.

When I first read this line I had no idea what it referred to. But I learned this afternoon I've been using them for years. I always wondered why the two buttons to push. Today I looked close and saw. One drop on one and two drops on the other. Huh! (tu)

scubadoo: Does the a/c drain into the potable water cistern or a gray water cistern?

Our buildings aren't plumbed to collect gray water, it all goes together to the WAPA sewer. The cisterns are all for potable water. Each building has a phenomenal water filter system and the water is sampled and tested periodically. I've seen the WAPA water coming out of the hose bibs around the property which are not tied to the cisterns or filters, comes out nasty brown. Our filters probably work harder on WAPA water than on cistern.

I was floored many years ago when staying at a resort on the beach when we had beach towels drying on the railing and the hotel complained and told us to take them down.
It wasn't even a super high end resort.

Another benefit of the newer high efficiency washing machines (I think mainly front loaders) they spin almost all the water out so drying time is significantly reduced.

I have a HE washer that's a top loader. Works great and using less water is always good.

scub: I don't know if I would want the stuff from inside various a/c units mixed in with my potable water, superfiltration or not.

And to all you all...beach towels hanging over the balcony makes it look like the Joads moved in. LOL

I stayed at a Mill Harbour condo last summer and they had laundry lines hanging in the front screened porch/balcony area. I used them too - scratchy towels but low WAPA bill! You couldn't really see anything hanging from the parking lot - it was on the top floor.

Sorry to hear about the scratchy towels. Guess that must be the piped water syndrome? Never had a scratchy towel using cistern water and line drying - in fact so super soft I occasionally dream of a scratchy towel!!!

OT, it must have been the cheap, no name detergent I bought at the Plaza!