',',"Rain, Water, What?",',"

[Angelo Baca]

Unfortunately, in Albuquerque, water is an object. But, as we've seen, Albuquerque is growing and water is being stretched too far. So, I need your suggestions. With what little water we have what can we do to grow but not lose water?

I've been E-mailed some ideas that I've forwarded to Marty they were:
"to use recycled water for our parks, golf courses, medians, and our own lawns & gardens."
"to start 'rain-cycling' all over the city."
"to lead all gutters away from the river and into our treatment plant."

[Brendan]

Double the price of water- take the profits and buy more water rights. Have you looked at how cheap a gallon of water is? Hardly anyway will conserve when it's so easy not to. Looking at my last water bill, it appears $1 will buy 262.75 gallons of water, including all surcharges, sewer, sustainable water supply, taxes, fees, everything. Nearly 3 gallons of water for a penny.

[chantal]

To be honest, I also think water is too cheap here. My sister, near the banks of the Great Lakes pays more for her water than we do.

Can we require developers to implement water saving features such as greywater gardening systems?

[sophie]

Maybe also add in a program that allows the city to price H2O based on HH income and usage, so that we're not pricing our most vulnerable citizens out of a basic need (but we're still encouraging all citizens to conserve).

[jim]

"Double the price of water- take the profits and buy more water rights." Water rights are only good if you have a source of water. Where is this water going to come from?

[tinsree]

there's a very local-centric problem with the three solutions above (especially the last). they all divert water from the rio grande. that's the river that frequently dries up before it reaches the ocean at its end. we need to reduce our individual use. doubling the price (or charging for water in as well as water out) is one approach some countries have tried.

[SteveJ]

Not necessarily, higher prices could mean more water stay in the Rio.

[SteveJ]

There is a great program in Chicago called "Greening" alley ways. One of the things they are doing is putting in concrete that allows the rain to seep through into the ground. This acts as a way to absorb water that would otherwise pick up oil, grease, and other pollution and run into Lake Michigan. The seepage into the ground filters out a lot of those pollutants. They also point out that it "adds to their water table."

I think we need this for Albuquerque, particularly the arroyos. They used to be sand, and would allow water to go into the aquifer. We could try to replace the concrete in the arroyos with this stuff they are using in Chicago. We could also do this in city gutters and other places.

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/12/22/chicagos-next-lead-the-green-al...

Another idea is to collect rain water off roofs, and then store it in cisterns for later use. There is a "green home" in Corrales that collects water from the roof to run the toilet. I have a problem with flushing our drinking water down with our crap, so we should actually use gray water for that.

[Barelas Babe]

I'm not convinced that we've maximized the opportunity for water conservation in our residences.

Washing machines with high Water Factor (WF) numbers and old-fashioned hi-flow toilets can be found in homes all over the city, despite the rebate incentive program.

Why? Is this due to economics or a lack of awareness about how much water these appliances use? Or both?

Would it benefit the city over the long run to offer a low-income program offering enough rebate money to make up the difference between the cost of water efficient toilets and washing machines and the water guzzling models?

Most people (and I'm guilty here as well) still use hot water heater tanks. Conversion costs for the tankless water heater are not cheap, but perhaps better economic incentives could be put in place to encourage this practice, especially in new homes?

I remember being absolutely shocked by the profligate use of water here when I first moved to NM almost 15 years ago. Having lived in deserts for most of my life, my water conservation habits are deeply ingrained. (I still time my showers and turn the water off while soaping up - old habits die hard). Things have changed considerably in 15 years, but there's room for improvement.

Some practices I still see around town, though less and less these days:
* sprinklers running during a rainstorm
* sprinklers watering pavement instead of landscape
* watering landscapes during the middle of the day
* Kentucky Bluegrass lawns and other high water landscapes - IMO, these are downright immoral in the desert
* letting the water run while brushing teeth or rinsing dishes
* letting water from the hose run when washing the car
* hosing down the sidewalk instead of using a broom

The good thing is that you can report water waste - call the Water Waste Hotline at 768-3640 or E-mail [e-mail]. Program it into your cell phone. :)

And there's always the adage, "If it's yellow, it's mellow; if it's brown, flush it down."

[Brendan]

What is it about hot water heater tanks that implies water waste? Natural gas waste perhaps, but water? My impression is that the water portion of hot water waste was waiting for the water to turn hot at the faucet, allowing gallons to go down the drain while waiting. I've been meaning to put a couple recirculating pumps in my home for this very reason.

[Barelas Babe]

That's it - the water that goes down the drain while you're waiting for the hot water to arrive is wasted.

Another option is a gravity hot water recirculating loop that uses convection to move the water around.

I keep meaning to compare the energy/water use of tankless heaters to recirculating pumps and hot water heater tanks to see which has the lowest carbon footprint... Any chance you've already done this, Brendan?

[jim]

I have a Paloma tankless gas water heater in a guest house. It is close to the bath and kitchen so it takes less than 15 seconds for hot water to reach the faucets. This is basically a point of use water heater.

A recirculating system is not a very energy efficient alternative. While it might save water it is constantly cooling the hot water as it circulates through the loop. I believe these systems were originally developed as luxury items for owners who didn't have to worry about paying more for the fuel to heat the water. One of my neighbors has a McMansion where the hot water loop must have been installed in contact with a cold water line. He gets hot water in one of his toilets but says that he enjoys it!

[Brendan]

Sorry, I don't really grok carbon footprint since it's not a dollar figure. Offhand I would guess a tankless heater is the most responsible energy wise since they take less natural gas to run. Water usage advantage would require three facts that I don't have offhand:

1 How much water is used to make a kilowatt of electricity
2 How much energy a recirculating pump uses
3 How much extra natural gas a tank heater uses when a recirculator is active (Probably not too much if you insulate your pipes).

When we were renovating I bought the most efficient tank system that was readily available since the on-demand systems aren't compatible with recirculation. While I'm pleased with how efficient the system is, were I to do it over again I'd go with a solar heater on the roof. May tie one in eventually anyhow.

I've read a bit about recirculating via clever use of insulation on all but the last few feet of pipe, letting the cooling and convection form a slow pump. Would be interested to know if anybody in town has done this successfully.