CHAPTER 16
Water Waste
Dorp and Sam left Idaho, and the winds
pushed them around for a few days, hundreds of
miles, before landing in a small town somewhere we won't name. They came down to earth during a rain shower. The clouds
cleared and Sam looked up and saw a jet going across the sky.
“Look
at the jet trails. I didn’t know water went up that high. Water
can’t come out of the plane, can it?”
Dorp
replied: “Actually it does, Sam. Jet fuel, when burned, has
by-products of carbon dioxide and water. Water droplets form around
foreign particles in the exhaust of the jets. Here is my particle.”
“So
that is your belly button, or should I say naval?”
“You
mean ‘navel’, but no. The exhaust gases humans call contrails
(condensation trails) form
immediately and fade away as their temperature evens out with the
upper atmosphere.”
“Why
are we here?” Sam asked. “This isn’t a big city and probably
won’t have the biggest or oldest of anything. Am I correct? “
“Sam,
our reason for being here is to learn all the different ways that
humans use water every day. Sometimes little things can be a big
puzzle. Look at you, after all. Now let’s snoop around.”
Sam
giggled and said, “Oh, do we wear a tiny cloak, so no one knows
we’re a bit of fog spying on them?”
“While
we don’t need a cloak,” Dorp responded, “I do wish I had an
itsy-bitsy piece of duct tape right now. We are visiting a
middle-class house in America. We are here to see how the average US
household uses and misuses water.
Let’s see what house will let us
in to look around.”
A
mosquito-laden breeze carried them down Main Street.
“Hey!
This is the first time I don’t have to worry about being bitten by
mosquitos,” Sam shouted. “Maybe I could bite one of them for a
change. Why are mosquitos so mean and want to bite everyone all the
time?”
“These
are female mosquitos that need iron to make eggs. And technically,
Sam, mosquitos don’t bite. They pierce the human skin with a tiny
built-in needle that gives them inside the human body. So, guess what
substance is rich in iron.
Hint, it is red.”
Sam
said: “Blood! And kid blood to boot! That’s precious! “
Dorp
and Sam drifted down a side street and were caught in the hair on the
tail of a dog.
“Let’s
see where this dog takes us, Sam.”
They
rode the tail of the dog into a house on Stifle Street.
“We’re
going through the house, and we’ll discuss all the ways that water
is being wasted here. Are you ready?”
“I
have a question, Mr. Dorp. If all water eventually evaporates or runs
into the sea, then what does it matter if we waste water? How can
there be a shortage of water? It seems that certain places get water
and certain places don’t get water.
How does how we use it matter
if the water all returns to where it came from?”
“That’s
a fair question. Let me answer that from a couple of different
angles and let me use Los Angeles as an example.
Los Angeles is a
very dry city. Though movies give it the appearance of a lush area,
Los Angeles is in a semi-arid portion of the southwest. Do you
remember that it sets on the tail end of the North Pacific Gyre? So
it must be dry. Los Angeles and other Southern California cities go
to extraordinary means to bring water to their people. These cities
take water from the regional eco-system to bring water their residents.
Los
Angeles has averaged just under 15 inches of precipitation a year for
the past 135 years. Until 1900, the Los Angeles River met the city’s
water needs. Then the leaders of the city traveled north and began
acquiring water rights
in the Owens Valley, from farmers who sold
their land and water rights to the city and then left their land.
This has resulted in desertification
of a fair amount of real
estate in middle California, between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and
the Nevada Border. Southern California in general, gets its water
from ground water, mountain runoff, and from the Colorado River. They
cannot meet expanding water needs unless they take it away from other
ecosystems.”
“So
what if global warming were real? If the polar icecaps turn to water,
won’t there enough water to go around?”
“The
short answer is ‘no.’ The American southwest is quite dry while
some of that land sits right on the Pacific Ocean, Sam. Your current
hometown, Encinitas, sits on the ocean, yet only receives 11or so
inches of rain per year.”
The
dog climbed the steps to the porch, went inside the house through the
doggy door and wagged his tail.
Sam and Dorp landed on the windowpane above the kitchen sink.
“Let’s look at this household and see how they use and abuse their
water. Can you spot any ways they waste water?
Now pay attention to
the little things. Humans think a million dollars is a big deal, but
many won’t bend over to pick up a penny. Even so, a million dollars
is made of 100 million pennies.
There are 18-20 million people in the
Los Angeles Metro Area. If every person could save just 5 gallon per
day, that could be 100 million gallons per day, 1/10th of the water that Chicago purifies.”
“But
we’re not in Los Angeles, so what does it matter?”
“Because
I’m using Los Angeles as an example of water-destitute Americans.”
“But
Mr. Dorp, why does this matter if the water always comes back?
“Listen
closely Samuel James. (That caught Sam’s attention, because that is
his correct name.) There are several parts to the hydrologic system;
transevaporation, condensation, precipitation,
transportation/accumulation, and with humans involved, there is
collection, distribution/consumption, and reintroduction into a
waterway. It takes a certain amount of time for water to get from one
use-stage up to the next use-stage. And the more humans that live on
the earth, there are more people trying to grab the water in the
use-stage.”
“Let
me give you an example. Let’s say your school has 500 students, and
the cafeteria can purchase enough chocolate milk for 600 students
each day. With 500 students, everything is fine. But then your school
grows to 525 students, then 550 students, everything is still fine.
But suddenly, a new factory in town opens, and more families move in,
which brings another 100 students to your school. There are now 650
mouths wanting chocolate milk for lunch. Those 650 students need to
share 600 cartons of milk. What do you do?
“Buy
more milk?”
“I
just told you, Sam, 600 servings of milk a day is all you can find.
You have no other options. Either you have to give each student less or tell the school not to accept the newest 50 students. What’s
your plan?
“I
don’t know.”
“In
the same way, Galileo, because of the time it takes for water to
cycle back to the available-for-use-stage, increased populations can
make cities run out of water. Los Angeles has done this before.
Now
then, tell me what water wastes you can find in this home.”
“Well,
on the way in, I saw the dad is washing his car, but the hose has no
nozzle on it. The water just runs on the driveway while he is washing
the car, and then goes into the street.
“Correct,”
Dorp affirmed. “A 10-minute car wash without a nozzle can use 100
gallons of water. A nozzle would help, but I know people who draw
water into a bucket and can wash a car with about 10 gallons of
water, and without soap. Commercial self-service car washes can be
very efficient, while automatic station washes can use a lot of water
unless they recycle the water.”
Sam
piped up, “And there is a swimming pool in the back yard. But how
much gas do they save by owning the pool versus driving to the
municipal pool?”
“That’s
something to factor in, but also consider that in the Middle Ages,
Europeans bathed just once a year in June.
One family used the same
water. The men bathed first, then the women and then children. Each
person got one pitcher of clean water to rinse-off with. That’s why medieval people got married mostly in June; that’s when they
smelled the best.”
“Don’t
you mean that’s when they smelled the least bad? Are you saying
that home pools might have to go away in low-water areas? You’re
starting to sound pretty hardcore."
“Well
first of all, a lot of good water is lost to evaporation from
swimming pools.”
“Wow.
You really nitpick on the water thing, don’t you, Mr. Dorp?”
“You
need to realize something about me Sam, when it comes to water
conservation. I don’t care about human feelings, human comfort,
human ego, or human goals. I don’t care about summer vacations,
birthday parties, or how one’s lawn looks. My only concern is how
to meet basic needs of all people with the lowest possible impact to
the world’s water supply. So, what else have you found?”
“The
lawn sprinkler in the backyard is running in midday, which can
sunburn the grass and increase evaporation instead of absorption, and
the downspout empties onto the driveway instead of the yard, which
takes water away from the yard and sends it into the street and down
the storm sewer. If the city has combined sewers, this could help the
release of untreated sewage into the river.”
“You
are correct Sam, there is no way to recycle the rainwater at this
house.”
“I
have a joke; what do you get when you cross a rabbit and a lawn
sprinkler?”
“I
don’t know…”
“Hare
spray! Now the little girl is drinking out of the hose while her dad
is washing the car. If the hose had dropped into dog poo, she could
get sick.
That is the basis of the old cholera and typhoid
epidemics.”
“An
outside drinking nozzle is a good idea, both for health safety and
water conservation. Now let’s look around inside the house. Can you
see any waste in here?”
“
"Someone
is cooking soup. It has no lid, and the water is evaporating. Why do
people put water in soup and then leave the lid off to cook it down?
Why not just add water as you need it? The heat released from the
open pot also makes the air conditioning system work harder. I also
see the kitchen sink and a garbage disposal that uses water to flush
compostable vegetable matter into our water ways.”
“Nice
jab, Sam.”
“Grandpa
Ed told me about that. People wash food scraps through garbage
disposals into our rivers and then drive miles to the garden center
to buy topsoil, when they could compost their scraps, peelings, and
leaves into good compost. He feeds his scraps to his chickens. He
says a chicken is a special machine that turns potato peelings into
eggs,
and makes fertilizer to boot.”
“Very
true.”
“I
see a hot water tap where people use fossil fuel to make hot water,
then heat up ice cube trays to get the ice out faster.
I see indoor
plants that require water, but produce oxygen, and make people happy,
unless the boy accidentally knocks over a plant and spills the dirt
onto the new Oriental rug. Whew. That makes for an interesting
afternoon.”
“Especially
since Abby is too young to blame, eh?”
“I
know. When she turns four, she shares the load. There! I see a sink
and a dishwasher, where moms wash dishes before putting them into the
dishwasher, which seems like taking a bath before taking a shower.
And mom says I don’t use my noodle-brain Wow!”
“Coming
in, I saw no mat on the porch. This means more dirt and mud comes in
the house and has to be cleaned more often. The house looks clean, so
the mom has to use more water and do more work that she would if the
porch had a mat. Also, the kitchen faucet has a drip.”
“It
all adds up,” Dorp said. “It takes about 15,000 drips to fill a
gallon bucket. A house with just one faucet that drips twice per
minute will waste nearly 70 gallons of water per year. The homeowner
will have to pay for that water and for needless sewer use also. What
if every house in Los Angeles just had one leaky faucet? Five million
homes times 70 gallons per year equals 350,000,000 gallons per year.
That is 106-acre feet of water, which would grow 50 acres of
California tomatoes.”
“That’s
a lot of pizza sauce! Back to the kitchen. Look at the mom while she
washes vegetables.
She is using enough water to put out a fire. The
faucet is on full blast.”
“There
is no need to use a stream of water larger than crayon to wash hands
or vegetables,” Dorp said.
“Use your hands and brush to do the
cleaning and use the water to rinse away the dirt.”
“But
that takes more time. Who wants to spend a lot of time at the sink?”
“People
who want clean water to drink on a daily basis need to calculate the
value of their time versus the value of the water. I have been to
Latin-American countries where the houses have no running water.
Trucks come around and fill water tanks that sit on the roof.
Many
wash their clothes on homemade concrete washboards in their back yards. These people
take longer to perform certain tasks, partly because it is a good way
to conserve water. Some things have to be done slowly to be done
economically."
"Back to leaking faucets for a moment, Sam. Various
estimates claim that 5% - 13% of domestic water used is wasted by
dripping fixtures.”
The
ceiling fan in the kitchen pushed them out of the kitchen and down
the hall. They wafted into the bathroom, and saw an old pink bath set, a toilet, bathtub and lavatory.
“Look
at this stuff. It looks ancient; like it came from medieval France.”
“That’s
an exaggeration, Sam. But that tub must hold 100 gallons of water.
One of the worse parts of bathing…”
“Besides
having to take a bath?” Sam interrupted.
They
discussed how humans have this silly habit of turning on the hot
water with the drain open, and running it until it gets hot, closing
the drain and then turning on the cold water to make the temperature
just right. Wow. What If we just closed the drain and let all the
water run into the tub, adjusting the taps as needed?
“Sam,
if this house had a recirculating line, the water would be warm when
the faucet is turned on. And look at this old pink toilet. It uses 7
gallons per flush. The average person flushes the toilet five times a
day.”
Sam
laughed. “Not great-grandpa Harry. His back yard is his urinal. Oh,
excuse me.” Sam put his hand over his mouth.
“How much water do
new toilets use?”
“The
law requires they use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, and there
is now available a High Efficiency Toilet that averages just 1.28
gallons per flush. It has a dual-flushing system, with one size of
flush for a #1 potty trip, as you would say, and a larger flush for a
#2 potty trip.
“But
what about when you have to flush them more than once? My Uncle is
not a small man, if you know what I mean…
”
Sam,
just because a standard toilet is rated to use 1.6 gallons per flush,
doesn’t mean it gives a complete flush. These numbers can be very
misleading. Homeowners should research to be sure they are getting a
good flusher. The High Efficiency Toilets do the job in one flush.
Toilets are now rated for flushing efficiency. The numbers are
printed right on the box in the store. Humans should read them before
they buy. A cheap 1.6 gpf toilet can cause higher water bills,
several plumber bills and water damage repairs.”
“Now
then, look at that shower head. It is a full-body water therapy
shower system; the only really new plumbing in this house."
“Is
this a big deal, Sir?”
“Actually,
it is, Sam. A water-saving shower head will use less than 2.5 gallons
of water per minute. If one turns off the water to lather and scrub,
an average human can clean themselves with five gallons of water. The
body therapy shower with 5 spray heads use 12.5 gallon per minute. A
15-minute shower would use 187.5 gallons of water. In dry areas, hot
water is not a good source of body therapy, unless one soaks in a
small tub of hot water, which uses 25-35 gallons of water. Another
thing to consider is the cost of the heat. The heat for water can
cost as much as the water itself. So can the sewer use charges.”
“Couldn’t
people just take shorter showers?”
“Human
nature abhors a quick shower. I’ve been through a lot of showers in
homes, schools, and institutions. Hot water therapy is never quick.
It is usually 15-30 minutes of constant water usage. This especially
true of a home with teenagers and athletes. I’ve also been through the
campground shower at Bainbridge Island, Washington, on Peugeot Sound.
It is metered like car washes; $1.00 for 4 minutes.
"Also,
look at the toothbrushes hanging next to the vanity.”
“And…?
Should we quit brushing our teeth? Some days I wouldn’t mind.
Especially in the morning.”
“Imagine,
Sam, if each person leaves the water running while they brush their
teeth.”
“Hmmm.
And look at that toilet brush. People waste a flush every time they
clean their toilets. If everyone would swish their toilets daily
without cleaner, before they urinate, the cleaning would use no extra
water and chemicals would not be needed as often.”
“Wanna
hear what I did to my mom?”
“I
don’t know. Do I really want to hear this?”
“Ha!
I used some of my mowing money to buy a new toilet brush. We had
chili for a couple of days until the kettle went empty. Mom put the
kettle in the sink to soak, because it was too dried out for the
dishwasher. I snuck into my room and got the new toilet brush. When
she came back into the kitchen, I was scrubbing the kettle with my
toilet brush.
She freaked out.”
“I’ll
bet. Did she learn to ask questions before she jumped to conclusions?”
“It
was a loud, busy evening.“
Just
then, as if on cue, they heard a female shriek. The mom rushed into
the bathroom holding a scrunched-up tissue,
which she threw into the
toilet, then flushed it. They watched the tissue disappear.
“What
was that all about?” Sam asked; startled by the commotion.
“The
lady of the house just found a spider crawling up the wall. She
smashed it in a tissue and just wasted 7 gallons of good water to
dispose of it. You have no idea how many millions of gallons of water
are wasted in America each year to for spider and fish funerals,”
Dorp said.
“Guilty
as charged, Sir. How else to get rid of a dead fish?”
“Well,
bury it in the flower garden. Then you can watch a fish become a
flower. Or bury it in the vegetable garden and watch it become a
tomato.”
“Aw,”
said Sam. “Then you can eat the tomato and bury it in your tummy,
and then the fish has two funerals.
Or…you could bury the dead fish
in your mom’s sweater drawer and …
“Again,
two funerals,” said Dorp.
They
drifted down to the basement of this older home.
“What
do you see down here, Sam?”
“I
see another old toilet in a makeshift bathroom with a shower made of
old iron pipes. And a little cast iron sink; and yup, more leaky
faucets. Hey! I have a joke. What did the sink say to the faucet?”
“I
don’t know.”
“’You’re
a real drip.’ But seriously, this bathroom needs replaced. But the
washing machine seems to be in good shape.”
“Look
again, young human. I see baskets half-filled with clothes. While the
laundry is well-sorted, the load selector on the washer is set on
large load. This means water is wasted with every load and it can
take 40 gallons of water to fill a top-load washer.”
“So
then,” Sam calculated, “they should stuff the washer clear full?”
“No.
Clothes packed too tight in a washer don’t clean well. A full load
of clothes should take 3/4 of the washer’s tub.”
“Sam, this house has several issues, both with the equipment, and the
people using it.
If every household were like this, tens or hundreds of billions of
gallons of water would be wasted each year.”
“These
people are a lot different than my great-grandpa Harry. He uses his
toilet for #1 all night without flushing it. Then he flushes once in
the morning. Then uses his back yard for #1 during the day, unless
it’s really cold outside. He says it foolish to use that much water
to wash down a half pint of urine. Of course, he lives out in the
country where no one sees him.”
“Good
for him, Sam! Much water could be saved if homes had discreet
backyard urinals that drained into a dispersion cache two or three
feet underground, with a remote hand-washing station. San Diego
advises the discharging grey water into yards to help water lawns.
I
think male urine could be easily mixed with the grey water with no
ill effects to the ecosystem or to public health.
Consider all the
urine that dogs and cats release in cities. No one fusses about
that.”
“Great grandpa saves back the water when he boils potatoes or eggs, and waters his
flowers after it has cooled. Or he makes soup with it. He also washes his dishes in a pan in
the sink and rinses right into the wash pan, then throws that water
in the yard. And he has a wringer washer for clothes. He fills the
washer and the rinse tub once, then washes his clothes from the
whites first to the rugs last. He says he uses less water to wash all
his clothes that other people use to wash one load. He said that in
dry years a regular wash machine takes away water from his livestock”
“He
is correct, Sam. This is what I meant about available water. Your
Great grandfather sounds quite frugal and resourceful.”
“Grandma
Tessie says he is cheap. He also saves back the liquid from canned
vegetables and uses it to make soup and makes a game of seeing how
little electricity and heating fuel he can use. Why is that?”
“I’ve
been around many elderly people, and there seems to be several valid
reasons for this behavior.
First, many older people alive today grew
up during the Great Depression and many went hungry
during those years.
They make everything last as long as they can and save what younger people throw away.
They sew on buttons instead
of buying a new shirt or blouse. They darn socks instead of buying
new ones.”
“Second,
they grew up without the conveniences that young Americans now
consider human rights. Do you realize the today’s average American
inner-city child has more luxuries today that Egypt’s King Tut had
when he was growing up? “
“Third,
most retired Americans are on a fixed income, and can barely afford the food and medicine they need.
Many grandparents
are still alive because of the medicine they take. These medicines
cost money.”
“Finally,
everyone likes to be good at something. Many of these retired folks
no longer have a work life to bring them satisfaction, and are
physically too frail to play sports, mow the lawn, or even cook like
they used to. Controlling their spending is something they can do
that gives them a sense of accomplishment, and it also helps them
live better lives.”
“Maybe
you’re right, Mr. Dorp. But it is a pain to go to his house and
have to turn lights on and off every time you go in a room or leave
it. Anyway, he could give lessons on how to save anything from water
to electricity to money.
How
can we fix this water waste in America?”
“I
have a plan that would work.
First, Americans need to set their
lifestyles in line with their environment. How foolish it would be
for someone who grew up in Phoenix, Arizona to move to Rochester, New
York, and think he should never have to shovel snow. By the same
token, it is illogical to move to a dry climate and expect to have a
lush lawn like the people in Kentucky.
People need to adapt their
expectations to the environments they live in. People who live in dry
areas cannot afford to waste water. White Americans in the great
southwest need to accept the same water standards they have placed
upon the tribal peoples that were pushed onto reservations in the
Southwest.
"People who are water-poor need to live like they are
water-poor.? “
"Absolutely. So
then; two things need to be done. First, retrain consumers at all
levels, including government, business entities, and the wealthy
about what water options are really important, and second, to make
sure all the necessary water systems are efficient. No person or
entity should be exempt.”
Dorp
continued, “Water suppliers would restructure customers’ rates
according to the efficiency of customers, equipment and the way they
use water. Any house with an inefficient toilet would have an added
yearly fee that would equal the cost of replacing the toilet with an
efficient model. A shower would be assessed for the cost to install
an efficient shower head.
A shower with multiple heads would be
charged for each head.”
“What
about outdoor water use?” Sam asked. “It takes a lot of water to
fill a pool or to irrigate the lawn.”
“Sam,
many water districts allow customers to place their outdoor water
spigots on a separate meter, so they don’t have to pay sewer fees
on the water that never goes into the sewer. On the surface of
things, this seems entirely fair. However, to curb unnecessary
outdoor water use, I would eliminate the sewage fee exemption for
outdoor use and have bracketed-use-rates so people would pay more
per gallon for extravagant use. In San Diego, landscape maintenance
uses over 50% of the water consumed. I would also set water rates
according to the type of landscaping used.”
“Large
water heaters would have a special use fee. We spoke before how
humans wastewater through hot water therapy. If each house had just
a 20-gallon water heater, there would be no more long showers.
Showers would be only for hygiene, and clothes would be washed on
lower temperatures. This alone would bring a huge water savings,
because it would create a new mindset among water consumers.
“How
would you enforce these rules in private homes and businesses?” Sam
asked. “Everyone would just say they have efficient water-using appliances, and it wouldn’t work.”
“After
proper notice, I would apply these higher rates unless the customers
have their homes and facilities inspected and certified as water efficient. An inspection would have to be made every three
years, and the inspector could tag leaking items then. This would
also help tenants in poorly kept homes and apartments that have to
pay their own utilities, because the inspectors would catch
inefficient fixtures that cost the tenants money that the landlords
won’t fix. The landlords would be charged, not the tenants.
Inspectors could also be tasked to inspect furnaces, water heaters,
and smoke alarms for safety issues. Win/win.”
Sam
thought: “So the homeowners would pay to have an inspection just to
keep the lower rate, and the penalty for not having efficient
fixtures is equal to the cost of installing efficient equipment. And
the charge is paid once a year until things are properly fixed.
That’s a real motivator.
"But what about the elderly and the poor
people? It could cost a lot of money to fix an old house.”
Dorp
explained that while Sam was correct, all people should have to live
by the same rules. Even so, in cases of hardship, the water authority
could establish a three-to-five-year water rehabilitation plan, with
the homeowner contracting a portion of the work each year, with
yearly inspections, but just one inspection fee, due to their
financial condition. And the water authority would have a group of
plumbers approved to serve these customers at pre-set rates. The
inefficient fixtures would immediately be broken and made unusable as
they were removed from service. Customers would even be able to pay
for rehabilitation through their water billing. The water authority
could negotiate with local plumbing fixture manufacturers or local
retailers to provide discounts for the products, since many items of
the same kind and style would be sold.
This kind of program would be better than kidnapping another river and would be far better for
wildlife.
Sam
soaked all this in (get it? SOAKED it in?), then asked: “How would
you certify all the houses at once?”
“You wouldn’t, you couldn't.” Dorp replied. “Institute the program one
neighborhood at time, so the inspectors can do their job right. Inspect the rich neighborhoods first, so average homeowners
could fix their houses before the rule goes into effect for them.
While the rich homes may have more efficient toilets, there are other
ways they waste water, so water usage should lower with each
neighborhood as it is certified.”
“Sounds
like you’ve got a plan.
Which direction are we headed next?
Dorp
replied, “This lady has written her sister a letter and
we have landed on it. We are about to be taken to the mailbox.”
“Boy.
It seems we travel the mail as much as we travel the wind.”
“That’s
not really true, but every piece of paper contains some water, and
mail is paper. Oh, Sam, look there at the curb. What do you see?”
“Well,
except for this house, I see garbage cans sitting on the curb waiting
to be picked up.”
“Exactly
Sam, everywhere but here. Here is one thing they are doing right.
They don’t put out trash or recycle until the bins are full. Then
the collection truck saves fuel by not stopping to pick up a
half-empty container. Countless gallons of fuel could be saved a year
if everyone followed this practice. They compost food scraps, so they
don’t smell and wait for the bins to fill before setting them out.
Good plan!
And off we go…”
Photo: kiddcoplumbing.com