Why reusables are better, even when water is scarce

Large amounts of water are used to produce the very disposables that are supposed to be reducing the amount of water we use. It's important to think "single purchase," not "single use."

Disposables are increasingly being touted as a green alternative to washing. Cloth diapers and dishes are two things that were commonly washed and reused on a daily basis, but now a growing number of people, particularly in drought-stricken regions such as California, are turning to disposable versions because they think it uses less water. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

I’ve received several emails and comments from readers who have read my stance on reusables and are left feeling confused by the conflicting messages they’re hearing from all sides about water usage.

Steve writes: “I have been using cloth diapers and love them. I was going to buy some for a friend in California for her baby shower, but she brought up a good point. They are in a severe drought. Are cloth diapers still the most environmental option in cases of extreme drought?”

Read more here.

Australians Survived a 13-Year Drought by Going Low-Tech

A study finds residents of Melbourne cut their water consumption in half by capturing rainwater and storm-water runoff and using efficient toilets and washing machines.

If you think California’s four-year drought is apocalyptic, try 13 years. That’s how long southeastern Australia suffered through bone-dry times.

But it survived. When the so-called Millennium Drought ended in 2009, residents of Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, were using half the amount of water they had when it began.

A group of researchers from the University of California, Irvine, set out to investigate how Melbourne,  a city of 4.3 million people, dramatically cut water consumption, and whether the city’s experience might hold lessons for California and other drought-stricken regions.

The short answer? Salvation came from a $2,000 rainwater tank rather than a $6 billion desalinization plant.

As the Millennium Drought dragged on, authorities approved the construction of costly infrastructure projects similar to those now being considered in California, including that expensive desalinization plant.  But the researchers found that conservation and recycling were the keys that got Melbourne through year after rainless year, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal WIREs Water.

Melbourne residents took advantage of government rebates for home rainwater tanks to capture runoff from roofs, using it to water plants and flush toilets. The state of Victoria also changed the building code to require the tanks in all new homes. 

By 2009, about a third of homes were capturing free water from the sky and supplying 2 percent of Melbourne’s potable water.

The government also offered subsidies for purchase of water-efficient showerheads, toilets, and washing machines, which combined cut Melbourne’s water use by 4 percent a year.

Since more stormwater runoff courses through the city and flows into rivers and the ocean than residents use in a year, the government moved to capture, treat, and reuse some runoff for irrigation. The city also ramped up the use of gray water and recycled water from sewage treatment plants.

Read more here.

Brazil faces the worst drought in 80 years

Unless the desperately needed rain arrive, São Paulo residents are being warned to "prepare for a collapse like they've never seen before."

Brazil is a country with 12 percent of the world’s fresh water supply and just 3 percent of its population, but it is at risk of running dry. Brazil is currently in the midst of the worst drought it has seen in eighty years, and there’s no sign of it letting up.

In the southern state of São Paulo, where 44 million people live, at least 14 million have been affected by the lack of water. There are days when people come home from work, turn on their taps, and nothing comes out.

Flávia de Souza Carvalho told the Washington Post, “We can’t shower, wash dishes, do laundry. I have a sink full of dishes because there’s no water coming out of the tap.”

Water has been scarce in the south for the past ten months, ever since the last rainy season produced only 40 percent of the usual amount of rain and failed to replenish adequately the rivers and reservoirs on which São Paulo depends. Satellite images from NASA show the significant difference in the depth of water reservoirs from August 2013 to August 2014.

Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/tbd-drought-brazil.html

These Butts are made for Watering

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Britain's driest start to a year for almost half a century has led to country's first drought warning being issued and fears of an imminent hosepipe ban. The lack of rain across the UK in 2010 has already forced one water company to reveal that it would need three months of rainfall to restock dwindling reservoirs. Yet despite the warnings many of are only reminded of the need to conserve water when the heat gets us into the garden. Fortunately the inclement British weather allows for this and arming yourself with a Sankey Water Butt now, will ensure that you are fully prepared for a hot summer in the garden.

Sankey, leading UK manufacturer of garden and horticultural products, has a range of water saving devices that ensure that your garden will reap the benefits of your conservation efforts throughout the approaching season.

The great British summer is almost here. After a cold wet winter, gardeners across the UK will be delighted at the prospect of enjoying the sunshine. Yet with that sunshine comes the realization that summer invariably includes a water ban. Sankey, leading UK manufacturer of garden and horticultural products, has a range of water saving devices that ensure that your garden will reap the benefits of your conservation efforts throughout the approaching season.

By the peak summer months as much as 70% of household water supply is used in the garden and this is usually when water companies are least able to meet demand. Water butts are the perfect solution. Easily connected to a guttering down-pipe with a diverter, Sankey Water Butts provide gardens with on demand rainwater. With less mineral salts and deposits than mains supply, rainwater is the finest option for tender plants. In reducing water usage and ensuring a supply of pure rainwater, gardeners can protect both pockets and precious plants.

Sankey recognizes that every gardener is individual and each garden unique. That’s why they offer a range of Water Butts that accommodate individual style, space and preference. Whether your garden is a traditional or contemporary, bijou or immense, there is a water butt perfect for that space.

From the discreet slim-line 100 litre Space Saving Water Butt to the stylish 300 litre capacity Beehive Butt, the Sankey range offers a variety of options and accessories that will ensure water saving and design merge seamlessly in your garden.

Available in a range of styles and finishes with capacities ranging from 100 - 300 Litres, the Sankey Water Butts retail from £21.99 for a Slim Space Saving Water Butt to £149.99 for the largest Rotary moulded Beehive Model.

While rainwater harvesting system and already simple rain barrels and water butts are great if there is no rain they are a little difficult to fill up by Nature's hand then.

That does not mean that we should not get them and put them up; on the contrary. We should, indeed, get all house retrofitted with full-scale rainwater harvesting systems to be used in flushing the toilets and for watering the garden, washing bicycles and cars and such like.

Part of the Fiskars group, Nottingham-based Sankey, a company of 155 years standing, is committed to identifying opportunities to use less, recycle more and support environmentally aware practices.

http://www.rsankey.com/

© 2010

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