Colorado and the West is running out of water . . . (Aurora: transporting, university)

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Its prounced zero scape so I spell it zero scape... I can care less if its right or wrong.

Since when? Here's the correct pronunciation from Merriam-Webster: ˈzir-ə-ˌskāp

[reginhild]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Its prounced zero scape so I spell it zero scape... I can care less if its right or wrong.

That also helps me make a point that I dont like it as much.....

Also with the Pueblo Board of water works telling us its ok to water our lawn that just proves my point that Pueblo has MORE then enough water!

Pronounced more like zer-uh than zer-oh. People saying zero-scape sometimes are indicating that they have nothing in that part of their yard!

[Josseppie]

either way I dont want it as the main feature of my yard but works on the sides.....

[formercalifornian]

I finally went back and read all of the posts in this thread to get a better handle on the subject. Thank you to all who contributed. I've gotten quite an education.

I must say that I was stunned to read Josseppie's post, indicating that he used upwards of 50,000 gallons a month in summer. We use less than a sixth of that to support a family of four over the course of two months, and there is a lot of room for improvement around here! Most of our conservation comes in the form of passive systems: low-flow shower heads, low-flow toilets, a low-usage washing machine, a bit of xeriscaping, etc.

For those of you who practice conservation (this would obviously not include you, Josseppie) what kinds of things do you think make the biggest difference for household use, other than minimizing the bluegrass?

[reginhild]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

I finally went back and read all of the posts in this thread to get a better handle on the subject. Thank you to all who contributed. I've gotten quite an education.

I must say that I was stunned to read Josseppie's post, indicating that he used upwards of 50,000 gallons a month in summer. We use less than a sixth of that to support a family of four over the course of two months, and there is a lot of room for improvement around here! Most of our conservation comes in the form of passive systems: low-flow shower heads, low-flow toilets, a low-usage washing machine, a bit of xeriscaping, etc.

For those of you who practice conservation (this would obviously not include you, Josseppie) what kinds of things do you think make the biggest difference for household use, other than minimizing the bluegrass?

The yard is the biggest eater of water - xeriscape, drip systems, soil prep for bluegrass will likely save you the most in water usage unless you live in a townhouse. Sounds like you have everything inside the home already set up! Other than the type of fixture, the way you use them makes a difference. eg.: if your showerhead is 20% more efficient than an old one but you take a 30 minute shower instead of 10-15 minutes you had negative conservation compared to the old head and shorter shower.

[Shuffler]

I was thinking about ignoring local 'rules' and putting in a simple rainwater collection system off the back of my garage...it's as simple as running a gutter into a couple of 55gal drums

I may not get it started in time to benefit from the rain we might be seeing in the next couple months though...other projects higher up the priority list will prevail.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by Shuffler

I was thinking about ignoring local 'rules' and putting in a simple rainwater collection system off the back of my garage...it's as simple as running a gutter into a couple of 55gal drums

I may not get it started in time to benefit from the rain we might be seeing in the next couple months though...other projects higher up the priority list will prevail.

Then what would you do with the water? You cant drink it, it would be hard to water your lawn with it unless you did it by hand. Same thing with your flowers. And considering we only get around 11 inches of rain a year, some of that in the form of snow, how much would you actually get anyway and how much would you keep after evaporation?

[Shuffler]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Then what would you do with the water? You cant drink it, it would be hard to water your lawn with it unless you did it by hand. Same thing with your flowers. And considering we only get around 11 inches of rain a year, some of that in the form of snow, how much would you actually get anyway and how much would you keep after evaporation?

Not for drinking, it'd be for watering plants and shrubs in my small yard. It's easy enough to do that it's not a big deal to try it out & see what happens. Every bit counts.

[Josseppie]

Originally Posted by Shuffler

Not for drinking, it'd be for watering plants and shrubs in my small yard. It's easy enough to do that it's not a big deal to try it out & see what happens. Every bit counts.

Its not like the water is being wasted if it goes down the street. It just ends up in the river where the next city uses it. Saving water does nothing to help the environment, in fact my yard does more as I have trees and grass that takes the green house gasses out of the air while yards with rocks do not.

But if you want to take the time and effort to do that because that make you "feel good" then go ahead.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

Saving water does nothing to help the environment, in fact my yard does more as I have trees and grass that takes the green house gasses out of the air while yards with rocks do not.

You don't think that the treatment of water, or the energy used to pump it to your house generates greenhouse gasses? By your own admission you use very large quantities of water during the hot months of the year to keep your yard green. I doubt that the trees and grass in your yard make up for that in absorbed greenhouse gasses. But even if they did, that would still make your argument something along the lines of the following: "Americans generate excessive quantities of greenhouse gasses so to make up for that we should use excessive amounts of water to increase the amount of vegetation in our yard which will absorb more of those greenhouse gasses."

I've got a better idea: reduce our emission of greenhouse gasses AND our consumption of water to moderate levels. Just say no to excess, not only in the above examples when it comes to amassing huge personal debt, buying houses much larger then we need (and can afford), super-sizing all of our meals, and host of other things we have loved to do in this country. (I'm going to step off my soapbox now, lest I be accused of excessive moralizing.)