People in Hawaii waste a lot of water (Hana, Hanalei: condo, houses)

[winkosmosis]

There are plenty of plants you can grow in the Kihei climate. There are grasses that need little water, but I guess you have to be careful about introducing invasive species

[HankDfrmSD]

I suspect that those who have irrigation systems (I am one) could save huge amounts of water by putting a moisture monitoring probe in the ground and connecting it to their sprinkler control.

With that system working properly, the irrigation system just doesn't come on when the ground doesn't need it.

Save up to 92% on Outdoor Water Costs with a Moisture Sensor - Planet Green

[winkosmosis]

Somebody watering the plants woke me up at 2am.

WHY the Hawaii obsession with watering? And why the ignorance? Nowhere else in America do people water every day. Even in Texas where it's 110 degrees right now, people water twice a week. Is it just that "everybody does it" therefore it's the "island way" therefore it's "right"? And why is it so difficult to understand that watering at night makes no sense, because plants can't absorb much water at night? Is it just a failing of high school biology classes? Oh right, we have one of the highest dropout rates in the nation, so most probably never got to high school biology.



Watering Lawns article on Google Docs

STOP WASTING WATER, HAWAII

How the hell can people put on all this malarchy about caring for "the aina" and not even pretend to care about wasting resources?

[mdand3boys]

I guess I would feel differently if we were using the public water supply.

But when you live in the wet area of a tropical rain forest and use catchment for your water, it isn't really wasting it if you never run out. Where we are, we can get 2 inches of rain in less than an hour and 10 minutes later, there aren't even any puddles. It all soaks right into the ground (lava).

With our roof area, we get right around 1000 gallons of water for every inch of rainfall.

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by mdand3boys

I guess I would feel differently if we were using the public water supply.

But when you live in the wet area of a tropical rain forest and use catchment for your water, it isn't really wasting it if you never run out. Where we are, we can get 2 inches of rain in less than an hour and 10 minutes later, there aren't even any puddles. It all soaks right into the ground (lava).

With our roof area, we get right around 1000 gallons of water for every inch of rainfall.

If you're catching your own water, use a much as you want! But I'm talking about people using the county water in the dry areas, which are most of the inhabited area of Maui.

[MickeyE]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Somebody watering the plants woke me up at 2am.

WHY the Hawaii obsession with watering? And why the ignorance? Nowhere else in America do people water every day. Even in Texas where it's 110 degrees right now, people water twice a week. Is it just that "everybody does it" therefore it's the "island way" therefore it's "right"? And why is it so difficult to understand that watering at night makes no sense, because plants can't absorb much water at night? Is it just a failing of high school biology classes? Oh right, we have one of the highest dropout rates in the nation, so most probably never got to high school biology.



Watering Lawns article on Google Docs

STOP WASTING WATER, HAWAII

How the hell can people put on all this malarchy about caring for "the aina" and not even pretend to care about wasting resources?

Wink, did you miss "the water cycle" in your high school biology class? See The Water Cycle for an explanation. I think water can only be "wasted" if it is transported into "outer space", otherwise it soaks into the ground to be filtered and pumped out through wells or runs off into the ocean where it evaporates and condenses and rains on the land.

Also see Water cycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and The Water Cycle, from USGS Water Science for Schools and Water Cycle - Animated Diagram or just google water cycle. Remember, Google is your friend .

Oh, and if you are so bothered by the "dropout rate" why not go back to school and get your teaching degree and help the schools out? Become part of the solution, not part of the problem!

Mickey

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by MickeyE

Wink, did you miss "the water cycle" in your high school biology class? See The Water Cycle for an explanation. I think water can only be "wasted" if it is transported into "outer space", otherwise it soaks into the ground to be filtered and pumped out through wells or runs off into the ocean where it evaporates and condenses and rains on the land.

Also see Water cycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and The Water Cycle, from USGS Water Science for Schools and Water Cycle - Animated Diagram or just google water cycle. Remember, Google is your friend .

Oh, and if you are so bothered by the "dropout rate" why not go back to school and get your teaching degree and help the schools out? Become part of the solution, not part of the problem!

Mickey

Are you joking or serious? Fresh water is a limited resource, especially on a largely desert island like Maui. We actually have big problems with water here on Maui. For a while the water department wasn't installing new meters at all, because we don't have enough water for the rate people are using it. I'm seriously shocked that you don't understand the concept of fresh water being limited.... especially since you live in Ohio, a big farming state.

And the more water you use for gardening and agriculture, the worse it is for the reefs, because you're just flushing nutrients from the soil into the ocean, screwing up the ecology.

People have to learn how to conserve. You know how we can't use geothermal power because it will anger the volcano god? What about the water god?

[winkosmosis]

BTW, why do the sugar cane fields have sprinklers that shoot up into the air above the cane? That creates a lot of waste because a big portion of the water just lands on the leaves and evaporates. HC&S has to know that

[alex7777]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Somebody watering the plants woke me up at 2am.

WHY the Hawaii obsession with watering? And why the ignorance? Nowhere else in America do people water every day. Even in Texas where it's 110 degrees right now, people water twice a week. Is it just that "everybody does it" therefore it's the "island way" therefore it's "right"? And why is it so difficult to understand that watering at night makes no sense, because plants can't absorb much water at night? Is it just a failing of high school biology classes? Oh right, we have one of the highest dropout rates in the nation, so most probably never got to high school biology.



Watering Lawns article on Google Docs

STOP WASTING WATER, HAWAII

How the hell can people put on all this malarchy about caring for "the aina" and not even pretend to care about wasting resources?

I got an "A" in high school biology, but I don't remember anything about plants having a hard time absorbing water at night. (Please clarify, in all seriousness.) What I DO know is that watering during the day in direct sunlight or strong heat is generally a bad idea, as the water evaporates quickly, and can actually steam/boil your grass/flowers/plants. I've heard that early dawn or late dusk is best, but I assumed that was only b/c most people can't see (or are asleep) at night.

I assume the behavior is due to people liking the lush aspects of the islands more than the dry parts. And because decades ago, there just weren't that many people there, or much strain on the water supply (with water being very heavy/constant in certain areas).

Personally, I plan on living in a fairly wet area, and having a good catchment system so I don't have to worry about this. I plan for almost all my water to be rainwater. (Seems like this starts out pretty clean, and can be filtered further if truly necessary.)

[hotzcatz]

The water table on Oahu has been dropping since the late sixties and I haven't a clue how they are gonna fix that. Build a desaliniation plant, I guess. I haven't a clue about the water table on Maui, but it might be similar. Before 9-11 they used to let folks go into the water tunnels and look at the water. They had markers that showed what the levels had been for prior years.

If you seriously want to stop wasting water, put in a composting toilet. Betcha flushing toilets wastes a whole lot more water than irrigation. A lot of the large golf courses on Maui use "reclaimed" water for irrigation, I don't know if they use is on food crops as well. If the water is coming from a lavender colored hydrant, then it's not drinkable water.