People in Hawaii waste a lot of water

[KauaiHiker]

Great post Winkosmosis, and thanks for the maps. And I 100% agree with you: most people do not respect the water and choose to live in a "dry" place but want the lush vegetation. And on top of that, they waste water in the many ways you mention.

You've mentioned before that you make maps for Maui county, so maybe you could help raise this issue from within. You'd have to do it off hours and rather informally, but if there's a water shortage, I bet some managers would appreciate (or just allow) a little free outreach material. You could also get involved with the local Sierra club. They would love to have a volunteer push this issue--though I admit that SC folks are stereotypically hard to handle after a while.

PS: did you hear about Hanalei's Sandcastle contest last weekend. Nothing spectacular, but good local fun. Hawaii Sand Castle/Art/Sculpture Festival | Facebook

[alex7777]

Originally Posted by 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.

I assume given the island's volcanic origins, pretty much all freshwater is derived from rainfall, on a fairly rapid-cycle basis. (Are there any actual lakes on the islands? Above or below ground?) Rainfall is presumably relatively constant, while population and use has sharply increased, thus creating inevitable shortages.

Toilets actually use far less water than showers, but high-efficiency toilets/showers can save significantly, as can other options like composting.

A desalination plant will probably be a good idea after conservation methods are fully implemented. (I assume the population levels will only continue growing over the long term.) It's silly that anyplace surrounded by water should have water shortages, even if processing is required. Better desalination techniques will probably be a huge growth industry this century, along with renewable energy.

[MickeyE]

A desalination plant would be good. You can even do it yourself. Google watermakers and see the equipment available - generally used on boats to make water. Set up a system on a trailer with a large tank and go suck 'em up .

Let me tell you a little story. In 1963 I bought my first house. It was a bit out in the country (10 miles from town) and it had a cistern. You wouldn't know it had a cistern (catchment tank) because it was under the front porch. It held about 15,000 gallons. About 6 or 8 years later - after I sold and moved - the county built a water treatment plant and ran water throughout the county. This was in Ohio.

Now the reason for this story is most people don't want the bother of having a catchment tank unless they have no other option. On the Big Island they are common, I don't know about Maui. I do know there is water to be "caught" there because I see fabulous pictures of waterfalls that evidently get water somewhere to keep flowing like that. Don't just rely on wells (and I have lived with wells and outhouses too), catch some water yourself. Use good conservation practices. Use "grey water" to water your plants. Put in a pond and use plants that filter water to clean up your grey water before it goes into the ground.

In other words, use that thing on top of your neck for more than a hat rack! Jump on some of the homesteading and/or survivalist groups and see some of the things that can be done. Get involved with the state's government and work to get laws and codes changed/passed that will allow alternative water collection/"making"/saving and override HOAs and CC&Rs that are restrictive to the point that you can't live.

Or move to the mainland in an area where you don't have to worry about water usage - if you can find it.

Mickey

[alex7777]

Originally Posted by MickeyE

A desalination plant would be good. You can even do it yourself. Google watermakers and see the equipment available - generally used on boats to make water. Set up a system on a trailer with a large tank and go suck 'em up .

Let me tell you a little story. In 1963 I bought my first house. It was a bit out in the country (10 miles from town) and it had a cistern. You wouldn't know it had a cistern (catchment tank) because it was under the front porch. It held about 15,000 gallons. About 6 or 8 years later - after I sold and moved - the county built a water treatment plant and ran water throughout the county. This was in Ohio.

Now the reason for this story is most people don't want the bother of having a catchment tank unless they have no other option. On the Big Island they are common, I don't know about Maui. I do know there is water to be "caught" there because I see fabulous pictures of waterfalls that evidently get water somewhere to keep flowing like that. Don't just rely on wells (and I have lived with wells and outhouses too), catch some water yourself. Use good conservation practices. Use "grey water" to water your plants. Put in a pond and use plants that filter water to clean up your grey water before it goes into the ground.

In other words, use that thing on top of your neck for more than a hat rack! Jump on some of the homesteading and/or survivalist groups and see some of the things that can be done. Get involved with the state's government and work to get laws and codes changed/passed that will allow alternative water collection/"making"/saving and override HOAs and CC&Rs that are restrictive to the point that you can't live.

Or move to the mainland in an area where you don't have to worry about water usage - if you can find it.

Mickey

How did the cistern collect the water? From the gutters?

Personally, I think a catchment system is a really cool idea. (I think anything that lowers monthly expenses, and makes you more free/independent, is a cool idea.) If you had an elevated tank, you could let gravity provide your shower, etc. with water pressure.

I live in Michigan, which has almost no water usage concerns (currently). However, given problems with runoff, etc., it would make sense to encourage cistern use pretty much everywhere, with gutters (at least) funneled to the cistern, which could then be filtered for use in toilets, showers, lawn/landscaping, and even for drinking water with additional filters. (With a clean gutter/cistern system, and adequate filters, I'm not sure what the problem would be.) Better than having rainwater simply collect pesticides and dirt/oil from the streets and then go into the rivers/lakes.

(I currently help manage my condo complex, and with only 32 units, we use 1.5 million gallons of water per year, at a cost of about $12,000 per year.)

[MickeyE]

Originally Posted by alex7777

How did the cistern collect the water? From the gutters?

Personally, I think a catchment system is a really cool idea. (I think anything that lowers monthly expenses, and makes you more free/independent, is a cool idea.) If you had an elevated tank, you could let gravity provide your shower, etc. with water pressure.

I live in Michigan, which has almost no water usage concerns (currently). However, given problems with runoff, etc., it would make sense to encourage cistern use pretty much everywhere, with gutters (at least) funneled to the cistern, which could then be filtered for use in toilets, showers, lawn/landscaping, and even for drinking water with additional filters. (With a clean gutter/cistern system, and adequate filters, I'm not sure what the problem would be.) Better than having rainwater simply collect pesticides and dirt/oil from the streets and then go into the rivers/lakes.

(I currently help manage my condo complex, and with only 32 units, we use 1.5 million gallons of water per year, at a cost of about $12,000 per year.)

Yep, the gutters ran into the cistern. I did have to buy water one time because we had a dry spell and used a bit more water than usual. Since our cistern was basically at basement level, we had a pump and pressure tank that fed the water into the house. It had a pressure switch to start the pump when the pressure dropped.

We also had a septic tank system which worked well as long as we followed good preventive maintenance. Mostly watching what went into the drains and at times adding something like Rid-X Septic Tank Treatment.

See http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/RM-12.pdf for great info on collecting water and treating it so it is good to drink. Also, google rainwater collection for more info and where to get first flush diverters, etc. Another good site is How to obtain clean drinking water | Green-Trust.Org .

Mickey