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Using Grey Water


Adam from Oz

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Kathy:

Yeah, So-Cal is a part of No-Cal's water equation, no doubt about it.  Los Angeles owns the Owens River Valley, from whence much of So-Cal's water comes.

So far, relatively few restrictions.  My understanding is that the Owens Valley gets drainage from many places, and has vast artesian pools as well, so it isn't as vulnerable to rapid depletion as SF's water is.

That said, we have to use it more wisely.  Like putting plenty of clay into our gardens . . .

d

ave

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If I am not mistaken, 2000L tank is about $500-600 - polytank that is. My 11000L tank is about $1500 or something like that. That is Darwin price, so I am sure down south it will be cheaper.

Not that expensive considering....

Regards, Ari :)

Ari & Scott

Darwin, NT, Australia

-12°32'53" 131°10'20"

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Hmmm, lots to think about there, Ari.

A 2000l tank would not go astray - especially as it would have been useful to catch all the rain that completely failed to fall today at my place! despite the forecast. :angry:

I'll have to check into prices. I have my eye on a very compact model that is attached to the side of a brick wall and is basically a big rectangle that's not too intrusive.

Available in a variety of decorator colours :P

Very interested in the SoCal set up, Dave. GRRRR! So many people and few restrictions! What are they?

Cheers,

trink39.gif

Adam

upmelbavatar.jpg

Melbourne, Australia.

Temps range from -1C to 46C. Strange Climate.

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Yard signs to keep us neighbourly

From today's Herald-Sun:

"People who keep their gardens lush using waste water have been told to put up signs to prevent neighbourhood brawls.

Acting Premier John Thwaites yesterday urged people who used approved water supplies to put up signs to avoid being mistakingly dobbed into the water patrol.

Mr Thwaites encouraged those using grey, recycled or rainwater to water their gardens to put up a sign.

South East Water spokesperson Fiona Fernandes said the company was considering providing stickers or signs for residents."

Bloody H*ll!

Cheers,

trink39.gif

Adam

upmelbavatar.jpg

Melbourne, Australia.

Temps range from -1C to 46C. Strange Climate.

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So what will your yard sign say...  "Using grey to keep it green" ???

 San Francisco Bay Area, California

Zone 10a

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Another advantage of a large water tank is it can act as a heat source . A few coils of black poly pipe on top to thermosyphon or a heating element , keep that Lipstick warm and cosy  :cool: .

Tanks can be installed underground or partially sunk .

Have seen open top concrete tanks inside a glasshouse with tropical fish and plants grown to perfection.

Added benifit of watering with warm water in winter , those palm seedlings gotta love that  :D .

Michael in palm paradise,

Tully, wet tropics in Australia, over 4 meters of rain every year.

Home of the Golden Gumboot, its over 8m high , our record annual rainfall.

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(aussiearoids @ Jan. 10 2007,16:19)

QUOTE
Another advantage of a large water tank is it can act as a heat source . A few coils of black poly pipe on top to thermosyphon or a heating element , keep that Lipstick warm and cosy  :cool: .

Tanks can be installed underground or partially sunk .

Have seen open top concrete tanks inside a glasshouse with tropical fish and plants grown to perfection.

Added benifit of watering with warm water in winter , those palm seedlings gotta love that  :D .

Nice ideas for us heat, water and humidity denied souls from the deep south.   Michael, can you arrange for some of your 3200 mm of rain to be sent down here where its 600mm if it ever rains again?

chris.oz

Bayside Melbourne 38 deg S. Winter Minimum 0 C over past 6 years

Yippee, the drought is over.

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(Adam from Oz @ Jan. 10 2007,09:39)

QUOTE
Yard signs to keep us neighbourly

From today's Herald-Sun:

"People who keep their gardens lush using waste water have been told to put up signs to prevent neighbourhood brawls.

Acting Premier John Thwaites yesterday urged people who used approved water supplies to put up signs to avoid being mistakingly dobbed into the water patrol.

Mr Thwaites encouraged those using grey, recycled or rainwater to water their gardens to put up a sign.

South East Water spokesperson Fiona Fernandes said the company was considering providing stickers or signs for residents."

Bloody H*ll!

Cheers,

trink39.gif

Adam

Government methods for saving costs:   Set up a friends group to maintain local parks....   Set up a friends group for feeding the elderly,  set up a dobber network to inform the water police of transgressors !

Government methods for running out of water:  increase cities population by 50% and increase industry base when weather office measures 10% drop in rainfall over each of the last 3 decades,  and predicts it to be a continuing trend, build no new dams,  and continue to pump vast volumes of tertiary treated water into the ocean ..... run water in open channels and store water in shallow dams so it evaporates as fast as possible.

Welcome to the driest continent on earth !

chris.oz

Bayside Melbourne 38 deg S. Winter Minimum 0 C over past 6 years

Yippee, the drought is over.

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They never get it right, do they??? Anyway, water storage, whether it is grey or rain water is a good idea. I think there should be more of it... I guess the way I see it, I will do my part... and it is up to the rest of the world, what they want to do with theirs...

Regards, Ari :)

Ari & Scott

Darwin, NT, Australia

-12°32'53" 131°10'20"

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Wow, Adam. I want to see pics of your sign when you make it. Knowing you, it'll be sharp and witty. "I'm using gray water and not much soap. Wanna smell me? My plants thank me." :) :) :)

Zac

Zac  

Living to get back to Mexico

International Palm Society member since 2007

http://community.webshots.com/user/zacspics - My Webshots Gallery

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There's never been any mandatory restrictions as long as I can remember here in SoCal.  It's always been a voluntary thing.  It's hard to run out of water when the source is the Colorado River (drains the Great Continental Divide...Rocky Mountains).

Matt Bradford

"Manambe Lavaka"

Spring Valley, CA (8.5 miles inland from San Diego Bay)

10B on the hill (635 ft. elevation)

9B in the canyon (520 ft. elevation)

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Dear Guys,

After the less than charming looks I received while schlepping my water around this evening (I have worked out that I carry 250kg - a QUARTER OF A TONNE! a day), my sign may include an expletive.....or three. :angry:

Am considering just putting a glass of the garbage I'm distributing on the mail box with the invitation to DRINK ME AND SHUT UP!

@CHRIS, don't even start me on the billions of litres of water they discharge into the ocean a year. This government........I can't really swear here, can I?

OK. %$#^! *^$@!

That felt good.  :P

More schlepping tomorrow.

D@mn this dry, beautiful continent!

Though my ferns did not appreciate the second hottest January night on record.  :(

In a beautifully ironic moment, there is some light rain from a thunderstorm that is passing me again according to the radar.

Forget palms and bananas, I'll knit.....really good.  :cool:

beginner%20knitting%20350.jpg

Cheers,

trink39.gif

Adam

upmelbavatar.jpg

Melbourne, Australia.

Temps range from -1C to 46C. Strange Climate.

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(MattyB @ Jan. 10 2007,17:37)

QUOTE
There's never been any mandatory restrictions as long as I can remember here in SoCal.  It's always been a voluntary thing.  It's hard to run out of water when the source is the Colorado River (drains the Great Continental Divide...Rocky Mountains).

"States that use Colorado River water need conservation plan

May 2004

U.S. Water News Online

PHOENIX -- The federal government is prepared to impose water restrictions along the Colorado River if Arizona and the other states that use it don't come up with a plan of their own.

Without an alternative plan, existing laws could trigger measures by 2007 that could see Arizona lose one-third or more of the water that supplies Phoenix and Tucson.

The states insist they are making progress on a plan aimed at avoiding shortages and don't intend to let the government take over. Representatives of the seven states have met several times and believe they can move quickly now.

"People ask why we don't already have a plan," said Sid Wilson, general manager of the Central Arizona Project, which carries Colorado River water to Phoenix and other cities. "Well, all the information the states have relied on is based on about 100 years of record, and now we're in a drought more severe than anything in those 100 years would indicate.

"We always thought we wouldn't have to worry about a shortage for 20 or 30 years," Wilson added. "It's a whole new ballgame."

The Colorado River, which supplies water to more than 25 million people in seven states, is in its fifth consecutive year of drought.

This year it will deliver barely half the water it usually does to Lake Powell, a key reservoir that now sits at its lowest level in more than 30 years.

Hydrologists say that if the drought persists and runoff into the Colorado continues at such low levels, Lake Powell could virtually dry up by the end of 2007. That would pit the seven states against each other in a bitter water war.

The upper-basin states -- Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico -- face some tough decisions if Lake Powell drops too low.

Under the seven-state river compact, the four upper-basin states must supply Arizona, Nevada and California with a set amount of water each year.

Lake Powell helps them meet that requirement, but if it continues to drain, those upper-basin states might be forced to give up some of their own allocation.

Wilson said the states are trying to avoid those situations. Ideas discussed include shifting water from farms to cities, perhaps by paying growers to fallow land for a season or two, and reducing the water lost to inefficiency."

____

This press is a couple of years old, but I've seen other reports like it in the last year or so in Northern California media.  Reports like this make me question whether the whole of the Southwest US including NorCal will be in tense water "negotiations" in the future as our population continues to grow.   Who knows with climate change if we'll be like Australia is now.

 San Francisco Bay Area, California

Zone 10a

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(Adam from Oz @ Jan. 11 2007,09:18)

QUOTE
@CHRIS, don't even start me on the billions of litres of water they discharge into the ocean a year. This government........I can't really swear here, can I?

And the government subsidizes water for farmers to grow rice in the Sacramento valley.  >20" of annual rainfall and people want to grow rice in California!  Stupid!

Robert

Madera, CA (central San Joaquin valley)

9A

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This press is a couple of years old, but I've seen other reports like it in the last year or so in Northern California media.  Reports like this make me question whether the whole of the Southwest US including NorCal will be in tense water "negotiations" in the future as our population continues to grow.   Who knows with climate change if we'll be like Australia is now.

You just cant keep on increasing population to stimulate  the worlds current growth based economic model.  Potable water is a scarce resource in some places,  in the end it may impose the limit to growth .

chris.oz

Bayside Melbourne 38 deg S. Winter Minimum 0 C over past 6 years

Yippee, the drought is over.

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CHRIS,

Before I venture out at 6am to get some watering in, may I just say, GOVERNMENT TW8TS, a city of only 3.7 million people in a state the size of Great Britain should maybe, just perhaps, just to be nice and civil, be able to provide water to its citizens?

During the drought of 1983, weren't we promised that the Thompson Dam would make us drought proof?

What irritates me is that the Stage III restrictions should NOT be in place as the dams have not reached the trigger levels of lack of wateryness. ???

GRRRRRR!

We are arguing about litres of water while the authorities waste billions of litres :angry:

Now, time for my Saturday morning spray! :(

Cheers,

trink39.gif

Adam

upmelbavatar.jpg

Melbourne, Australia.

Temps range from -1C to 46C. Strange Climate.

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