California’s Water Problems Soon to Induce State of Emergency (LeakBird)

May.06, 2008 in Public Works, Water Conservation

Last week’s SF Chronicle ran a timely and fascinating story by Kelly Zito on water rationing and the future of California’s water supplies.

I was amazed to learn that 80% of California’s water goes to agriculture, whereas 20% goes to urban areas, and that more water, because of increasing demand, is beginning to be supplied to urban areas, shifting the 80/20 ratio, as 10-15 million are projected to move to the state over the next 20 years.

Yet, at the same time that California’s agricultural infrastructure is facing severe water shortages and rising costs of doing business, the demand for fresh water in the urban areas, to which people are moving in droves in California, is only going to increase exponentially.

It is clear that unless new systems for monitoring and auditing water are put into place, there is going to be a serious strain on the supply…

Consider that even now California is in the middle of a drought that could go into its third year, and many counties are seriously considering implementing drastic water rationing initiatives.

Apparently, and thank goodness, improving the ways in which we use our urban water supplies seem to be at the fore of top government officials’ minds, from the governor to district strategists and scientists.

However, there is one thing I found lacking in the front page SF Chronicle story: it didn’t fully address issues such as toilet flushing and plumbing fixture leaks, both of which I have found contribute to 44% of a typical household or unit’s urban water usage, according to the SFPUC. Instead, the article focused more on designing buildings that use less water, the structural materials of which require…you guessed it…more water!

So, instead of upgrading and/or retrofitting already extant systems, and requiring certain auditing mechanisms and protocols to raise awareness and force people to face the issue of ignorance and negligence head-on, we are simply adding to the problem by adding new systems that do nothing but, albeit a bit more slowly, continue to waste water.

Now, we shouldn’t have to rely on the governor issuing a state of emergency, instituting rations, and forcing us to eliminate the little greenspace left in urban environments, but more than likely, that’s what’s going to happen if we don’t work to institute measures that help to stem the waste at the source—

How can we slow the waste coming from the old toilets and faucets in our urban centers?

It begins and ends with a responsible citizenry, proactively calling leaks to the attention of plumbers, landlords, janitors, management, etc…

If you are interested in How You Can Increase Your Cash Flows by $2,500.00 Every Year and Never Pay for High Water Bills Due to Your Tenants’ Running Toilets, sign up for our Free Report here.

Abendigo Reebs is the VP of Business Development for LeakBird Industries LLC in San Francisco, CA. He may be reached by email at ben@leakbird.com

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