Watering lawns has to be the most egregious waste of water there is
We have reclaimed sewage water that is treated through all of the neighborhoods where I live. I use 27,000 gallons of the reclaimed water since it's cheap and I have a nice lawn and it's better than having it pumped directly into the ocean which is what all of the cities here did with it before, and no only pump the excess water.
August 17, 2017, 10:21 AM
PASig
We were in Charelston, SC (Isle of Palms) a couple years ago and they had sprinklers at our house but they must have been hooked up to some kind of gray water or wastewater as our cars all got sprayed and we had mineral deposits and rust-like stains on our cars for months afterwards.
August 17, 2017, 03:45 PM
slabsides45
One of my life goals is to single-handedly use up all of the water in the Southeast. You know, just to piss off the snowflakes.
So far, I'm losing miserably. There are only so many times I can get out of the shower to re-re-re-flush the toilet, just because...
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"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving." -Dr. Adrian Rogers
August 17, 2017, 03:48 PM
YellowJacket
I'm sure you live in a lovely neighborhood.
I'm gonna vote for the funniest frog with the loudest croak on the highest log.
August 17, 2017, 09:33 PM
slabsides45
quote:
Originally posted by YellowJacket: I'm sure you live in a lovely neighborhood.
Nyet. House on about 9 acres, give or take. Fortunately for the snowflakes, I'm too cheap to try to irrigate that much grass. Yellow is a purty color too.
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"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving." -Dr. Adrian Rogers
August 18, 2017, 08:19 AM
Georgeair
I didn't realize moving water through pipes and onto a lawn caused it to then cease to exist!
You only have integrity once. - imprezaguy02
August 18, 2017, 08:41 AM
mcrimm
I water 2 acres via an automated sprinkler system. It serves to beautify my home and to serve as a potential fire stop in our typical dry summers.
I don't feel at all guilty where I live in Montana and water is plentiful.This message has been edited. Last edited by: mcrimm,
I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown ................................... When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
August 18, 2017, 10:46 AM
46and2
I would like a supremely lush, barefoot friendly, patch to walk upon and lay/sit on from time to time, right out my office door, my own little perfectly manicured putting green (without the golf parts), that's somehow beautiful and green all year long.
August 20, 2017, 10:58 AM
irreverent
quote:
Originally posted by Rinehart: There's a little side note about your observation about wasting water on lawns.
Many of you on the forum are familiar with saltwater flounder gigging, which is going out at night in a boat with underwater lights and using a gig to harvest mature Atlantic Flounder.
One of the special moments in doing this is that you are out on the water where it is generally peaceful (short of the mosquitoes and sand gnats buzzing around your head). With these underwater lights in 3-4 feet of water you can see quite clearly in a circular area some 10-20 feet around the bow of the boat (depending on water clarity). It's very beautiful as you encounter all types of salt water creatures, from large to small crabs, shrimp, hermit crabs, eels, minnows, you name it. The bottom is teeming with life that you can admire.
So one night I am flounder gigging along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). I have a few people along who have never been out on the water like this and they are ooohing and aaahing as we see different sea creatures along the bottom.
Suddenly, as we move along the bank, there are no more fish, no more shrimp, no more crabs, nothing. The bottom has a dead gray color and there is not one living thing within the radius of the light as we move along the shoreline.
After about 50' of this, I get really curious and grab my spotlight and shine it up on the shoreline.
Wanna guess what I see? We are skirting along a huge golf course, and there are drains occasionally poking through a very well-built seawall edge. The sprinklers are running and the grass is soaking in water. Where these dripping drains poke out you can clearly see a discolored gray pallor on the bottom. Areas of algae bloom in these spots.
So what we were seeing was the "water" from the golf courses percolating down and running off into the estuaries which lead to and from the ocean water. In this "water" you could potentially have large levels of phosphorous, potassium, sulfur, urea, formaldehyde, and whatever pesticides are in use. This happens all along the coast and even inland on lakes.
I'm not the biggest tree-hugger, but damn...
I hear you. I don't consider myself the biggest tree hugger, either, but I don't use pesticides on my lawn. All my neighbors do. I've had dandelions shoved in my mailbox <sigh> as a not so subtle way to prompt us to use lawn services. I used to have salamanders and frogs on my property, never mind fireflies. Gone.
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"Trust, but verify."
August 22, 2017, 01:48 PM
Monk
quote:
Originally posted by thumperfbc:
quote:
Originally posted by Monk: If the natural precipitation in the area isn't enough to sustain your yard, maybe you should think about landscaping with more appropriate materials. That's all I'm saying.
Your Bay Area"ness" is showing through. (Unless I recall incorrectly).
I woukd counter with car washes being the biggest waste. I don't see the point.
But back on topic, I live in the Central Valley wherevwater is scarce (well, not this year) and summers are hot, dry and long. I think we average about 12" a year, and pretty much none of that from April to October. My front yard stays acceptably green on 20 minutes a week. Backyard is all gravel.
Good Lord, them's fightin' words. I'm a Texican, born and raised.
And I agree, car washing is also a waste of water. It's August in Texas, a hundred degrees out, and the grass requires an inordinate amount of water to keep alive.
Georgeair: "...looking around my house this morning, it's not easily defended for long by two people in the event of real anarchy. The entryways might be slick for the latecomers though...."
August 22, 2017, 03:01 PM
ensigmatic
quote:
Originally posted by Monk: And I agree, car washing is also a waste of water.
I'm pretty sure car washes filter and recycle what water they can, now-a-days, do they not?
quote:
Originally posted by Monk: It's August in Texas, a hundred degrees out, and the grass requires an inordinate amount of water to keep alive.
Well, then, I guess I can understand your pique. If I lived in the southwest, I probably wouldn't have a lawn.
But, here in Michigan, well... And if it were just the lawn, I'd be inclined to let it go dormant when rain is lacking. But my wife has planted extensive gardens. So the in-ground sprinklers keep it all going when naturally-provided water from the sky is lacking.
What drives me nuts is watching in-ground sprinkler systems running when it's pouring down rain, or has just been doing so.
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
August 22, 2017, 11:08 PM
lunchbox
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Monk: If the natural precipitation in the area isn't enough to sustain your yard, maybe you should think about landscaping with more appropriate materials. That's all I'm saying.[/QUOTE
I live in one of the wettest places in North America and right now my entire lawn is brown. By your logic no one should have a lawn?
August 23, 2017, 10:54 AM
tatortodd
quote:
Originally posted by Monk: It's August in Texas, a hundred degrees out, and the grass requires an inordinate amount of water to keep alive.
Well, then you're very aware that you're painting with a very broad brush as Texas is so large that is has many different climates.
I live near the GoM so we average the required 4 inches per month, but in the summer it tends to come in clusters of thunderstorms so I still need to water. We have 31 days a year with precipitation above a 1/2 inch.
I used to live on the outskirts of Dallas we got about a foot less precipitation annually compared to Houston, and only half the needed rain in the summer to keep the lawn green. We only had 24 days a year with precipitation above a 1/2 inch.
I also used to live in Midland (i.e. high desert plain) and we got about 3 feet less precipitation annually compared to Houston, and only a quarter of the needed rain in the summer to keep the lawn green. We only had 10 days a year with precipitation above a 1/2 inch.
Tyler (East TX) has precipitation pretty similar to Houston, and Austin has precipitation pretty similar to Dallas.
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
August 23, 2017, 11:07 AM
heatinajeep
So woke.
I'm impressed.
August 23, 2017, 11:56 AM
Jus228
Washing vehicles tops it for me. Not that I give a hoot if anyone else does it. My truck hasn't been washed in years, it's still silver.
!~God Bless the U.S. Military~!
If the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off
Light travels faster than sound, this is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak
August 23, 2017, 12:23 PM
sigcrazy7
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic: I'm pretty sure car washes filter and recycle what water they can, now-a-days, do they not?
My BIL owns a car wash. He's never spoken of water recycling. They have mud traps which trap all the large sediments, but the water flows to the sewers.
How about these cities in the West that have city ordinances that require your property to be a certain percentage green? You have to water there.
I'm thinking of switching my lawns to zoysia grass. Sure it's brown much of the year, but it needs very little water, almost no herbicides, and infrequent mowing. The closest you can get to natural astro-turf. Anybody have a zoysia lawn?
Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. -Epictetus
August 23, 2017, 12:42 PM
Kevmo
When I built my first house in Phoenix I, being from the North East, wanted a lawn, a nice thick green lawn like my Dad's so a sod was laid down!
Fast forward 10 years....10 years of the lawn looking good a few months out of the year, a few months of it taking longer to get the lawnmower out and gassed up than it took to actually mow it...I finally said fuck it, dug it all up and went back to desert landscape...I am much happier.
As for car washing, I use a pressure washer which is faster and uses a lot less water
August 23, 2017, 03:23 PM
comet24
My water comes from a river. Using more or less has no effect on my water supply. If it's not used it's going to flow right down the river.
If something happens and the river so low it's below the intakes doesn't really matter how much people conserve because it's going to run out very quickly.
Know where you live and conserve or not accordingly.
Don't tell everyone they are wasting water when that's not the case.
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Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain. Jack Kerouac
August 23, 2017, 08:30 PM
henryaz
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic: What drives me nuts is watching in-ground sprinkler systems running when it's pouring down rain, or has just been doing so.
I turn mine off during our annual monsoon rainy season, when we get rainfall. My plot, here in the southwest, is modest, a mere 1,000 sq ft. And it is primarily for our dogs to lounge in.
August 23, 2017, 08:44 PM
Sunset_Va
quote:
Originally posted by henryaz:
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic: What drives me nuts is watching in-ground sprinkler systems running when it's pouring down rain, or has just been doing so.
I turn mine off during our annual monsoon rainy season, when we get rainfall. My plot, here in the southwest, is modest, a mere 1,000 sq ft. And it is primarily for our dogs to lounge in.
