Water Usage Keeps Going..... Down?!!

[greenghost]

This statistic kind of blew my mind...
Dropping Water Usage

We hear so much about water shortages, exploding populations in dry areas, irrigation needs, etc. My assumption was that the volume of water consumption would just keep going up and up. Boy was I wrong.

See, we do have the potential -- the technology -- to supply our needs and protect the resource.

 

[tomgamber]

Perhaps people are actually starting to get it. Just not wasting water would do that in my opinion. Even if you use as much as you always did but not let the extra rung down the drain, you have to be using 30% less.

 

[Maurice]

Voluntary conservation while noble and important is a "drop in the bucket" The vast majority of these reductions are in the form of regulatory adherance.

 

[tomgamber]

on who's part Mo?

I read this...

We are growing more food with less water, and irrigation demand is down. We are producing more goods and services with less water, and industrial demand is down. It used to take 200 tons of water to make a ton of steel. Now steel plants in the U.S. use less than 20 tons of water to make a ton of steel. That is a 90% reduction.

but is that from regulation? or are farmers and industry "getting it" too?

 

[tomgamber]

Conservation good:give your peeps some credit :-D

The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) serves a population of 1.74 million
people, supplying the area with 349 million gallons of water per day. In 1986
PWD instituted the Conservation Assistance Program (CAP) to help lowincome
and “payment-troubled” residential customers manage their water use.
The CAP educates consumers about water use and provides direct installation of
low-flow toilets, shower heads and faucet aerators, in addition to minor leak
repairs. Such assistance lowers customers’ water use to levels they can afford.
Because PWD has an abundant supply of water, the program was intended to
serve only as a means to reduce non-payment of bills.However, it has also resulted
in average household water savings of 25 percent. Through reduced bill
arrearage and reduced water supply operating costs, PWD expects net savings of
$97 per household over ten years, or $1.48 for every dollar invested in the program.

Regulation also good :-D

Lots of examples...

 

[Maurice]

You are right Tom, When I heard the article this morning It was as you said, Primarily from industry and agriculture. I meant to include that but it slipped my mind. Thanks for pointing it out.

The main thrust of my point was that Individual use consumption reductionis a drop in the bucket. I am sure there is some form of regulation tied to the industrial and agricultural use but its probably indirect. Meaning, water shortages and the prediction of a shortage influenced the alternative methods of water use. Probably not regulation so much I guess.

 

[troutbert]

Maybe it depends where you are. In the Spring Creek watershed, water use is going up, because of growth of population.

 

[tomgamber]

Those people had to move from somewhere that they are no longer using water...

 

[tomgamber]

Maurice wrote:
You are right Tom, When I heard the article this morning It was as you said, Primarily from industry and agriculture. I meant to include that but it slipped my mind. Thanks for pointing it out.

I didn;t point it out the article did...I just asked my first quesion before I read it.

The main thrust of my point was that Individual use consumption reductionis a drop in the bucket. I am sure there is some form of regulation tied to the industrial and agricultural use but its probably indirect. Meaning, water shortages and the prediction of a shortage influenced the alternative methods of water use. Probably not regulation so much I guess.

The one I posted had a section that also said household water use had gone down as much s 25% because people were installing low volume faucets and appliances that use water.

So as an after thought...these are "green" concepts, no? And there are still enough wasteful products (dishwahers, clothes washers, various plumbing fixtures) that still could be replaced, no? Would it create jobs if these more efficient products had to be, designed manufactured, shipped ans sold? Wouldn't this also generate tax revenue? Why is it there are people out claiming green industry is a lie?

 

[osprey]

I think it's like TomG says people are paying attention , even in face of right wing pressure to Pooh Pooh everything that even hints at eco/conservation , ya don't wanna get labled as a wacko , maybe it has something to do with "I can do something to not only help the earth , I can save a couple bucks on the water bill , and i don't have to stick my neck way out there either"??????

 

[wetnet]

My company uses treated wastewater for spray irrigation and uses it instead of potable water for hosing down equipment and such. They plan to do a pilot study to use it as toilet water and are doing studies about installing waterless urinals. During the summer we discharge a very small amount of treated effluent to the receiving stream. The trout that frequent it thrive. In low water conditions with the quality of the effluent I might suggest they send it to the stream instead of on the grass.

 

[osprey]

If i can ask , what kind of company is it? Just Curious have a few friends who own their own business , one is a high pressure wash outfit , he deals with alot of the regulations that deal with water , he does all the parking garages associated with UPMC (university of pittsburgh medical center) When he told me he gets around $8.00 a space i was surprised and then he started to tell me about all the complience he is faced with and when he was done $8.00 a spot didn't seem like that much anymore.

 

[tomgamber]

I think she said once before she works at a waste water treatment plant...I'm sure she'll correct me if I am mistaken.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Lititz Run is a spring creek in its headwaters and has a large discharge of treated waste water enter it just downstream.

A few years ago the spring went dry in the summer and the waste water was all that was left keeping the trout alive downstream.
Those fish are still there today. Shows how good some of this treated water can be, your probably right lynn, during low flow times they should consider putting it in the stream. I hate to admit it.

 

[pcray1231]

While its good news, its important to understand stats such as this. The per person water usage has gone down by 30%. The overall water use stayed about flat (maybe a slight decrease, but not much). The reason, there are more people.

The same can be said for power. The per person power usage has been on a steady decline. The overall demand for power has increased because of population growth.

Curbing the demand for resources, long term, means we have to get a handle on population growth.

 

[tomgamber]

pcray1231 wrote:
While its good news, its important to understand stats such as this. The per person water usage has gone down by 30%. The overall water use stayed about flat (maybe a slight decrease, but not much). The reason, there are more people.

The same can be said for power. The per person power usage has been on a steady decline. The overall demand for power has increased because of population growth.

Curbing the demand for resources, long term, means we have to get a handle on population growth.

Well, I figure we can either conserve water or lower the number of people using it. One of those options is a capital offense so its all good news to me. ;-)

 

[osprey]

TomG........population control is a capital offense unless you are the United Nations then...........it's a plan.