Water Conservation

[billiebobuk]

Hi, I'm really concerned about water conservation. Does anyone know o

any good products to divert/harvest rain water??

-- billiebobuk

[John Bachman]

Why the concern? Water is not something that we consume when we use it. We just borrow it. Regardless of the useage, the water goes back into the water table after we have used it. The only exception is that portion which evaporates and that precipates back to earth.

There may be local water shortages but the earth's supply is nearly limitless. There is more water on earth than any other commodity. Most of it is salty but desalinization processes exist - ask Aruba.

John

[John McWilliams]

Considerable amounts of rainfall run off- via drains, streams, creeks, rivers, into Bays or Oceans directly. Hardly going to the water table.

Billie-

Where do you live? Do any of your neighbors have cisterns?

[Persephone]

Are you talking about devices to re-direct rain into barrels, cisterns, etc?

And/or ways of watering your garden "conservatively"

For the latter, I input some words like "devices for water conservation in the home garden", and got many hits, of which this is only one:

(from H&G). Many others.

For the former, I input words like "storing rainwater" and got many hits, of which this is one:

'm sure you will find lots of good advice by surfing persistently. Of course there must be books in the library or book store that go into home rainwater storage systems.

Good luck, and thanks for your progressive approach.

Persephone

[Charlie]

many others, google "rain water harvesting"

Care Charlie

[Charlie]

Meant to add this UK site...perhaps more applicable.

Care Charlie

[Charlie]

Crap.........seems I forgot something........*this* site!!! :-)

[David E. Ross]

Where I live, minerals in the soils render ground water unusable even for agriculture, let alone drinking. Our water is imported from northern California, hundreds of miles away.

The total precipitation and ground water (where useable) in the state is already insufficient to meet the needs of people, industry, and agriculture. The only thing that has prevented a crisis is the fact that the reservoirs still have adequate supplies from record-breaking rains two years ago (about 14,565,000 acre-feet in state reservoirs plus additional amounts in recharged aquifers). If the current drought does not end this winter, we will likely face rationing next summer.

[len garden]

With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

-- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand."

[Charlie]

Isn't there some current flap about Sonoma County Water Agency and rationing or a mandatory reduction? Or is this simply another journalistic flap?

Charlie

[Kay Lancaster]

Out here in western Oregon, metal roofs are popular with the rainwater collection crowd. We will probably go that route when we build.

the climate in England is similar to that of western Oregon and Washington, examples from those areas (e.g., Portland, Seattle) may be of most use to you.

Another good and simple tool for water conservation is drip irrigation, combined with mulch.

(And yes, even though water recycles nicely, taking care of subterranean aquifers is important. Once they collapse, they don't recover. If you'd like a painless introduction to aquifer collapse, try the Sarah Andrews mystery "Dead Dry". Sarah is a geologist, as is her protagonist.

)

[Charlie]

Stop development? heh heh.......that is going to happen on it's own accord, but that is another story, neh?

Usually is pretty slow out here in the flyover. Just runnin' some checks on weather and such and somehows saw something about Sonoma County, oh yeah, it was a global warming and CA wine production article, and you know, one thing leads to another, and here we are, and there you are and this is it.

Later, cold ones are a needin' some attention and blinks aneedin' watchin'.

BTW........county fair time tomorrow evening. Lovey and I are taking Elder G-son to the County Fair for Terrifying Rides, Corn Dogs, Cotton Candy and all those other Goodies that are guaranteed to plug yer arteries and stop your heart. Hope to see ya' around the next day.

Charlie

[Charlie]

Thanks for the reminder.......mine too. Gonna have p/butter and 'mater sammich first......felling a bit peckish. Picked a bunch of Tomisils this evening. Good stuff.

I'll likely eat lots of something tomorrow evening that will allow me to "Fart for Freedom"....great thing, given the local and district politics. Someone must raise a stink.