LeakBird

The heat is on, it seems the fuzz are coming, as an article appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, May 14^th, declaring “East Bay Begins Water Rationing”

Some of the more frightening truths:

“Residents of single-family homes throughout much of Alameda and Contra Costa counties are required to immediately reduce water use by 19 percent; golf courses face 30 percent cuts; refineries and manufacturers must trim 5 percent.”

“Under the plan, those who don’t comply face citations and the possibility of reduced water flow or disconnected service. In July, the board will vote on special drought pricing.

Until those rates are set, district officials will gear up the effort by hiring “water patrol” staffers, and launching an advertising and education campaign. In addition, they urge customers to begin examining their water bills for usage levels and ways to cut back. For instance, a family that uses 200 gallons per day should try to bring that total to at least 162 gallons.”

“Customers who cut back less than 10 percent will face a $2 surcharge for every 748 gallons they use beyond their allotment. Customers who already use scant amounts of water – less than 100 gallons a day – would be exempt from the surcharges and 10 percent rate increase.”

Now, as we at LeakBird have tried to show, there is no need for fear in the face of this drought if we worked to bring to the forefront the waste associated with leaking toilets.

We have offered the math, and demonstrated, with the support of articles from water works across the country, that the potential conservation which would result from a more informed and less negligent rental market is staggering.

Recall that one toilet leaking at 2 gallons a minute wastes 50,000 gallons a month!

The outcry then, of homeowners who are not allowed to fill their swimming pools, or water their lawns, and are going to be charged exorbitant amounts for doing so should be aimed not at the water works, but at the environment of ignorance and negligence of their fellow citizens who rent and do not, as a result, have to worry about from whence their water will come, or, most importantly, how it goes, goes, goes.

It is clear that what needs to be done, on the part of those who are bound to suffer worst the effects of rationing, that is, homeowners who pay the bills directly, is to call upon their public officials to subsidize systems that work to inform the rental market, from the landlords to the tenants, in such a way as to get them to be proactive, responsible custodians of the water supply. For it is not the homeowner that should be punished for use, they already pay and already, therefore, try to conserve.

Now, the top two water saving tips, according to this article are:

“– Replace older toilets with high-efficiency toilets (rebates available in many areas).

– For older toilets, use displacement bags, toilet dams or adjustable flappers.”

However, in the case of people who rent, especially in older buildings, these options do not inspire, as they are being hit neither in the pocket or in the realm of frustration—in other words, why should a tenant really face the consequences when they neither pay or really, except for a slight noise, have to be bothered by the problem.

In short, and here I speak as a property manager and a renter myself, if I am not being charged, and I am not annoyed, I don’t really care.

On the other hand, it can be argued that the Landlords and property management companies would care, because, they are in essence, the homeowners, and have to foot the water bill.

Yet, we found that in cities such as New York City, metering of the buildings isn’t even building wide, but non-existent!

In these cases, the public works charges landlords for water use by the square foot. So, water waste isn’t even checked by Landlords in this case! What do they care if their tenants waste water? So long as their building doesn’t get any bigger, no matter how much water they use, they pay the same rate.

All this said, it becomes clear that we need to start looking to our public officials to mandate and seek out new and innovative ways to help their constituency to be better custodians.

We think we might have an answer…a device that will help in the same way a smoke detector helps proactive response to the danger of fire, but for the danger of water waste…

Coming in the next entry soon.

In the meanwhile, more articles on scarcity, the ‘Water Police’ and their inability to see where the real problem is, (with the rental market), and continued harassment of the homeowner, who is trying to save water in the first place in the interest of his or her pocket!

From the May 15th Los Angeles Times: “L.A. Prepares Massive Water-Conservation Plan”

From the May 16th New York Times: “Water Woes From Florida To Spain To Orbit”

From the May 16th New York Times: “Water Rates Will Rise 14.5 Percent”

From the May 15th Wall Street Journal: “Sewer to Spigot: Recycled Water”

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.

Jordan Sudy is the VP of Product Development for LeakBird Industries LLC in San Francisco, CA. He may be reached by email at jordan@leakbird.com

Related posts:

1. The Costliness of Water Rationing, David Zetland and Water Police in California (LeakBird) (Photo Courtesy of Collectors-Badges.com) Aguanomics water virtuoso David Zetland...
2. Sprinkler Tickets: 15 Water Police Officers Now Prowl Los Angeles Neighborhoods For Water Infractions (AssociatedPress) (Jan. 6, 2009, Associated Press) The green thumbs who keep...
3. San Diego will Be Test for the Nation: 200%-400% Water Rate Increase to Follow Water Rationing (LeakBird) We’ve been watching water rates jump here and there, 5%,...
4. California’s Water Problems Soon to Induce State of Emergency (LeakBird) Last week’s SF Chronicle ran a timely and fascinating story...
5. The Coming Great Water Shortage — San Francisco Public Utilities Commission may have to Declare Temporary Water Rationing: Serves 2.5M Bay Area Customers (LeakBird) With all of the rain California has been receiving over...