The residential water-use calculator compares your water use to a similar average and efficient house in the San Diego region. The calculator estimates the energy savings and carbon footprint of your hot water usage, and helps identify specific areas for improving overall household water efficiency. Water conservation is easy and the water calculator gets you started right away.
Calculator: http://www.sdcwa.org/water-calculator
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Graywater systems channel household water from showers and washing machines to yards, gardens and orchards, through diverted plumbing lines.
There are limits to the reuse: kitchen water from the sink or dishwasher can’t be graylined because food waste could contain bacterial contaminants. Water containing human waste from toilets or diapers also has to go to sewers.
And while the water can safely irrigate fruit trees, tomato vines or berry bushes, it can’t go directly on root crops, or on low-lying plants such as lettuce.
Still, advocates say that in San Diego, where about half of household water goes to irrigation, graywater can make a dent in water use.
“San Diegans use about 50 percent of their water outside,” Lightner said. “For single-family households, if you could save your water, it would definitely reduce your water bill, and reduce consumption throughout the city.”
Until now, complex permit requirements have led many conservationists to install the systems informally.
“It’s sort of one of those things that has happened forever,” said Laura Allen, co-founder of Greywater Action, a Bay Area-based organization that has promoted graylines since 1999. “They weren’t very common in urban areas, but in rural areas, they were always common.”
The changes the city is considering could make graywater systems more common in parched, populous San Diego.
Read more at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/oct/29/tp-from-graywater-to-green-landscapes/?page=1
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The City of San Diego’s year-round Residential Outdoor Water Conservation Rebate Program offers cash incentives for the installation of water-wise devices.
City residents who live in a single-family home, duplex, townhome or condo that is served by an individual water meter can participate. They can receive up to a $400 rebate for a smart controller, which automatically adjusts irrigation times depending on the season and weather.
A residential customer can also get a rebate of up to $480 for installing a micro-irrigation systems.
Get more info and more rebates at: http://www.sandiego.gov/water/conservation/residentialoutdoor.shtml
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