california drought Archives - Page 2 of 2

WHAT IS THE URBAN WATER EFFICIENCY POTENTIAL?

Californians are well aware of the current drought.

Even though we are constantly being reminded of the situation, it can seem overwhelming to try to understand the drought in a broader prospective and see the potentials for urban conservation and efficiency. Improving water-use is a key solution for the state’s short-term and long-term water challenges. From drought to unsustainable groundwater usage, California has a long list of water dilemmas, and there remains a tremendous untapped potential to increase efficiency. At home, in businesses, and in government.

Let’s start with recognizing where water use in urban areas come from. According to the California Department of Water Resources, cities and suburbs account for one-fifth of water withdrawals in current years. Mostly used in and around our homes, with residential water use accounting for 64 percent of total urban use. In addition, institutions, schools, hospitals and commercial buildings account 23 percent, leaving 6 percent to industry and manufactures. Even though, agriculture uses large amounts of water, when taking into consideration an urban largely populated area, homes and businesses are the real issue.

About half of California’s urban water use is outdoors, largely for watering landscapes, washing cars or sidewalk, and filling pools or spas – 70 percent in residences and 30 percent in commercial businesses. You can see the rates go up the further inland you go. There the weather is hot, dry and sometimes water is inexpensive. In more saturated areas such as Los Angeles County and the Bay Area, there are a number of aggressive water conservation campaigns. With that in state, the average per capita water use is low, and continues to decline as the drought prolongs itself.

After pinpointing how and where water is consumed, we are able to quantify the potential for improving the way we use the natural resource. There are plenty of new technologies and practices available in the marketplace as well as government policies and initiatives to tap into. Even though behavioral changes influence water savings, we like to focus on technological solutions. Education and awareness is always necessary. It comes hand in hand with change and offers a better landscape for implementing new solutions. So let’s not leave that aside even though our focus is on technological solutions.

First off, there are many ways to reduce water waste and improve efficiency at home. Over the past decade, we have seen homeowners paying more attention to leaks, upgrading old toilets to flow flow models, switching washing machines for ones with the EPA Water Sense labels on them. That includes, faucets and dishwasher as well. As for the outdoor usage, Californians have starting opting for water efficient plants, however there is still a lot that can be done! When it comes to commercial buildings most measures mirror residential conservation efforts, like installing waterfree urinals and low-flow toilets. However, some industries need to take a more specific look on certain aspects of the business. If you’re in the food industry, pre-rinse spray valves, ice machines, food steamers,etc would be your best bet. Office and commercial buildings should also focus on cooling and heating systems. They have the biggest potential for saving and there are plenty of new technology available for retrofitting.

Drought is always an opportunity to initiate clarification. The main issue we face, isn’t the drought itself but our perception of water use is the real problem. As important as water is to us, it is extremely easy to assume that our supplies are both reliable and plentiful. In spite of that, with recent changes that does not seem to be the case. Not only do we have to use less water in our day-to-day life, but we have to think of becoming more water efficient. There remains a tremendous untapped potential to increase water-use efficiency at home and at our businesses. It takes time, and a little bit of understanding. Nonetheless, we are in this together and creating healthy discussions is what will help us move forward.

If you want to continue the conversation head on over to our twitter account! Our handle is @shuttheflushup. Not an easy one to forget!

WHERE THE WATER SIPPERS AND GUZZLERS ARE IN CALIFORNIA

Californians use 196 gallons of water per capita per day, including all businesses except agriculture. But there are wide differences by community, and the moist coasts uses less water than the arid inland.

See below, water usage by selected cities per capita in gallons per day. Where does your city come in?

SAN MATEO HIGH SCHOOL FUNDRAISING

“Take that, California drought!” was San Mateo High School’s attitude when they initiated the Urinetown project back in January.

With the drought on their mind and a passion to change the future, students from both the theatrical production and Environmental Science class joined forces to create awareness and raise funds to retrofit the urinals throughout the school.

This is an incredible example of leadership within a community. Californians have been living through a major drought and it was only a matter of time for people to start fighting for a more sustainable way of living. This student run campaign in drought stricken region shows that sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands. Throughout the golden state, water districts have been encouraging residents and businesses to retrofit appliances, landscape offering rebates. However, it is not everywhere you are able to find such programs and cities need to be reminded that this is no longer an option. San Mateo does not have access to rebate programs and like fellow Californians, they have experienced first hand the severity of ongoing drought. Whereas in their case, the student body came together to help change. Students took lead of the future with hopes that city government will follow. Nothing short of amazing!

It all started with the Broadway musical, Urinetown. Followed by an Earth Day rally to generate more funds to retrofit all bathrooms in the school.

Because of student initiative and partnership Falcon helped retrofit the remaining waterfed urinals to waterfree. Giving San Mateo’s students what they so desired from the start: a more sustainable environment for the school.

Part of being a B Corp is giving back locally and when communities come together to generate good, we can’t help but feel excited. This is what propels us to work harder everyday. When you have people making it their mission to conserve water for both ourselves and future generations, it all makes sense. We are using the power of business to do good, and are extremely happy it reached San Mateo High. #BtheChange

35% CUT FOR CALIFORNIA

Can’t say we didn’t see this coming. With the current state of the drought it was a matter of when and not if. Therefore, when Governor Brown announced the mandatory statewide water restrictions last week, we weren’t surprised to see it hit the media in full force.

In an aggressive push to reduce water usage statewide, California regulators are proposing that the biggest urban water users cut consumption by as much as 35% over the next year. California’s cities consume 178 gallons per person per day, on average. That’s 40 percent more than the per capita water consumption in New York City. Pretty crazy!

Brown’s mandatory statewide water restrictions is the first in California’s history. And the timing makes perfect sense. The state of California endures a fourth year of drought and with Groundwater levels in some areas have plunged, causing the ground to sink it shows the magnitude of the situation. Farmers have been cut off on irrigation deliveries, which has forced thousands of acres of inactive cropland. Some small communities have ran out of water, and while reservoir levels are higher than last year, the mountain snowpack, which provides about a third of the state’s water supply in normal years, is at a record low.

With the mandatory cuts, water districts are offering rebates for home and business owners to retrofit appliances. This comes as an incentive since after Brown’s announcement, California Energy Commission approved standards for water efficient appliances. The standards require water appliances to consume less water thereby using less energy while performing the same function and it ranges from low flow toilets, waterfree urinals to kitchen and lavatory faucets.

The drought has never been so evident as it is today. It is all around and affects every aspect of our daily lives. But the challenges faced bring to surface discussions and changes that are long overdue. We can blame it on climate change, misuse of water supplies, or all the above. But one thing is clear, it is not going away and we have to alter our relationship with water.

CALIFORNIANS MEET WATER CONSERVATION GOALS

Last Tuesday, the California state water board announced that in December Californians met governor Jerry Brown’s water conservation goal of cutting water use by 20 percent for the first time. As we mentioned before, California is where we started and it continues to be the place we call home, therefore we can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Not only is this our home, but it has always been our vision to promote conservation of the Earth’s precious supply of fresh water while supporting sustainable resource management. For over ten years we have believed in creating a water conscious restroom and it’s extremely exciting to see so many people come together with the same goal in mind.

Read more our involvement with the 20 by 2020 water goal and our local initiative here and here.

SAN MATEO HIGH SCHOOL’S URINETOWN

For two weekends starting today, San Mateo High School’s Performing Arts will be presenting the hit Broadway play “Urinetown.” A musical satire of social irresponsibility, “Urinetown” is about a small city that has outlawed the use of private toilets due to an extreme drought with citizens paying for the right to use public restrooms. Taking inspiration from their classmates production, the Environmental Science students at San Mateo High are raising funds to install new environmentally friendly urinals throughout the school.The class took the idea of Urinetown to heart and, wanting to make sure it never happened in their town, will be raising funds during the performances for the purchase and installation of Falcon Waterfree urinals for their campus. One of the students stated, that “With California in a severe drought, I think it’s important for everyone to take action for water conservation. It’s inspiring to know that something we do, like improving our urinals, can save our state such a large quantity of precious fresh water.”

We are proud to support the students in this initiative as California Water Service in San Mateo is one of the only water utility companies in the area to not offer rebates for the purchase of waterless urinals. This is such a great initiative from the students. We always encourage people to think about saving water not just in their own homes, but in every aspect of their lives – and this is a great example!

The biggest waste of clean drinking water is found in the place that we spend as little as time in as possible, the bathroom. By installing water-efficient or waterfree urinals, San Mateo High School can save up to an average or more than 40,000 gallons of water per year/per urinal. With 33 urinals across its campus, the High School can save an up to 1,320,000 gallons of water a year. That’s a pretty impressive number, don’t you think?

“This project gives our students an opportunity to bring a lot of disparate ideas together. In Environmental Science we spend significant time with California’s drought and its consequences for the state’s ecology and economy,” said AP Environmental Science Teacher Miguel Appleman. “The musical Urinetown considers a vision of drought from a more artistic angle, with acting, music and dance. The project gives students, many of whom are in the class and the show, the opportunity to look at both interpretations of drought, and then we sprinkle in a taste of activism, a bit of a civics lesson. Here’s a problem, our overuse of water, and they can do more than just watch it happen; they can do something about it, and by bringing in more people, they can move things forward.

After all is said and done, we will post an update on the outcome of San Mateo’s fundraiser and how many urinals were installed in the school. Until then; happy Friday!