Upcoming drought restrictions

[jaderabbit]

Our water utility has declared that we have a drought, and that we're going to start a new fee structure in August. By this time, we will be expected to use 90% or less water than we have in the same months of previous years or pay a premium.

This isn't going to be prohibitively expensive for us even if we go over the 90%, but I'm trying to think of

Comments

Good plan!

[drj0402]

I misread "90% OR less" as "90% less," thinking you had to limit use to 1 gallon for every 10 you normally use and wondering if what you were suggesting was enough... :-)

Since the goal is to limit use to 9 gallons for every 10, I think you have a good plan.

Since your house is newer, you might not need to worry about this but check to make sure no toilets have slow leaks, and that all faucets in all sinks close completely.

Re: Good plan!

[clair_de_lalune]

I read it the same way at first! And, I thought that would be impossible! But, now I understand. :)

Yes, it sounds like you have some very good ideas, jaderabbit.

Re: Good plan!

[jaderabbit]

Thanks! One of the really cool ideas at that site is that you can put food coloring in a toilet tank and wait 30 minutes. If it reaches the bowl, you have a leak. (And if you leave it longer, you have a stained toilet, but that's another matter.)

I'm glad we have a few months to try this stuff out so I can see if it's working.

[whatifoundthere]

I misread the post the same way, and it wasn't until I saw your comment that I finally got it.

But now, even though I'm reading it correctly, I'm still puzzled: does the amount of water you are permitted use just happen to be 90% of your previous use, or are they telling everybody to "cut down by 10%"? If it's the latter, that sounds like it's punishing the people who were conserving all along, and that's incredibly fucking irritating.

[jaderabbit]

They want everybody to use 90% of what they used in previous years. I guess that's cutting off 10%, but I didn't want to phrase it that way because I have heard math people complain about bad statistics too many times.

And yeah, it does seem pretty unfair to the people who were already doing really well. But that's not us, at least not totally. I never ran the faucet while brushing my teeth, but I must now use showers as a hygiene necessity instead of a luxurious wallowing.

[jaderabbit]

Whoops. I just looked at the water notice again. It's a bit confusing, but now I understand that what they mean is that our baseline quantity--the rate before we start getting a higher rate--is 90% of what it was in previous years. So no one is getting penalized for having been economical before.

That said, we've been over baseline since we had the kids, so this will be an interesting challenge.