Walmart sprinkler controls

Orlando walmart, startscto rain and sprinklers go off. I guess there is to much water here.

Walnut Valley Water District - Aargh!

Huge water shortages in So. CA. So what does http://www.wvwd.com/ do? Replace the rebate system with one that has a limited amount of rebates per month, so only May 3rd and they have already been issued for the entire month.

So CA Water Smart nice page on this.

And in the requirements, you are supposed to only buy the item after you got a rebate number.

Aargh!!!

Oh, the real reason for this I am sure is funding...

LifeStraw - Helps People and Profitable!

Water-purifying ‘straw’ in design spotlight in the WSJ. Vestergaard Frandsen : LifeStraw®
is a product that people drink through that purifies drinking water. Great for disasters and places where water may be contaminated. The WSJ mentioned it in their design highlight. Neat product that also makes a profit for the business, which is nice, do good and keep in business. They have also come out with a larger solution for families.

Water Saving Ideas

I remember the last major drought in California. It's interesting when you go to some cities in the middle of a Desert and they have lots of fountains!

The English lawns that are so beloved in So. Ca don't belong here. The use of treated water (purple pipes) is another opportunity. The problem is the plumbing for them. They could be used for watering residential lawns and flushing toilets. Unfortunately adding them after you build a house does not make sense from a cost basis (digging up streets is not cheap). New housing should be required to have them. And of course the replacing with low flow toilets, faucets, shower heads, etc. Take quick showers instead of baths, not running the water continuously. Instant water heaters are nice and save water and energy, but are pricey. The problem is you need to run water till you finally get to the stores hot water. There are recirculation pumps, but not easy to install. Improving sprinklers also helps and having smarter systems.

Water Shortage in California

Water-Starved California Slows Development NY Times article. I live in Southern California and have been through a few droughts. I visited my Grandmother in 1975 when it got down to water rationing in the SF Bay area. Santa Barbara was building a system for converting salt water to potable water. Now we have less Colorado River Water and from the Owens Valley. And more people moving in. And farming gets water at super cheap prices, while cities can't get it. So why are we growing rice in California with a water shortage?

And for some reason, Walnut Valley Water District has issues returning my call to get a high efficiency Toilet. And they still have up a flyer from May 17th on their front page, as of today, June 6th. And the site says best viewed with IE and Windows 98, or higher!

Sewer to Spigot: Recycled Water

Water in the South West of the US is always a worry. It's mostly a desert, and in Southern California imports water from Northern California and the Colorado River. And the population keeps on growing, and the supply of water stays the same.

One solution would be to allow farmers to sell their water at market prices to cities. Farmers basically get the water for free. Due to politics, that is not going to happen.

Another solution is recycling water as the Wall Street Journal article Sewer to Spigot: Recycled Water. Some cities are using recycled water for golf courses and such. If you see a purple pipe, it's recycled. Other water agencies are replacing toilets with lower water usage solutions. My almer mater put in waterless urinals. A big use of water is our beautiful green lawns in Los Angeles. A lot of water is also wasted in irrigation through evaporation, but again politics gives no incentive for improving this (the what's in it for me angle).

LA prepares massive water-conservation plan per the LA Times. Home irrigation systems with water sensors is an opportunity for companies such as RainBird. I interviewed there, interesting culture and way of doing things. Most homes still have time watering systems. An opportunity for new homes is using recycled water for flushing toilets. Inside the house, low flow shower heads, faucets, and toilets through regulations have already reduced water usage.

Bio Fuels - Another source of pollution?

Discharges from bio fuel producers can have a substantial environmental impact. NY Times story Pollution Is Called a Byproduct of a ‘Clean’ Fuel. The other day there was an article about the huge amount of water needed for producing ethanol, and how this poses a possible limit. Here is a positive view of how much water Ethanol production uses.

I am not sure if the reporting of negative articles about pollution is a trend. Yesterday's article about Solar Plant Waste in China is an example. Sometimes when you have to much positive reporting, there is a backlash with an increase in negative stories on subjects. A joke I heard was if your a company, start worrying when your CEO's picture is on business week, for that's when things are about to go negative.

AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water

AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water - a bit scary the amount of junk that is in the water. The amount is small, but what is the impact of this. Same with hormones and other antibiotics that come through the food chain for people. There was one story in the NY Times about a Chicken breast that was tested in China that had so much hormones, that if a athlete had eaten it they would have tested positive and been disqualified.