Water restrictions - possible rationing soon

[sunshine]

So we've been under water restrictions for most of the summer, and there is talk of rationing soon.

I know what we do to conserve water, but always looking for new ideas.

Here's some of what we do:

~ navy showers (get in, turn water on and get wet - turn water off, soap up - turn water on and rinse)
~ save shower water for flushing toilet or watering garden
~ reuse towels after showers (hang up immediately and reuse for approx. 1 week)
~ wearing clothing items more than once before washing
~ washing clothes in wringer washer (only uses one load of water for wash and 2 tubs of water for rinses, doing multiple loads of laundry)
~ again using laundry water for toilet flushes or watering garden


Any other ideas?

Any one else under restrictions or rationing?

[Spirit Deer]

We have no restrictions here, and with over 500 lakes within twenty miles we're unlikely to have a water shortage so we're lucky that way.

Can you capture rain water from your roof for tasks like watering the garden or washing cars?

Washing dishes by hand, if you don't leave the rinse water running, should take less water than washing in the dishwasher. Your manual should tell you how many gallons of water your DW uses so you can compare.

Don't flush the toilet every time it's used.

If you have an older toilet that takes a lot of water to flush, add one or two or more jars or bottles of water to the tank, so the tank retains that amount of water with each flush so it uses less water.

I guess if you wanted to go to extremes, you could take sponge baths. Maybe that would be workable to stretch the time between showers.

I wonder if looking at any websites from the desert southwest would be helpful. It seems like a lot of communities there have water restrictions and there must be info posted somewhere to help their citizens cope with reduced water usage.

[sunshine]

Oh gosh - we don't have a dishwasher here. . . never have had one, so I never even thought about that. . . and i do sponge baths on days when I don't have to work.

We also have a low flow toilet and restricted water use shower already.

I have gutters that dump rainwater into my cistern - problem is , there is no rain so no water for the cistern

[Spirit Deer]

Yeah, I was afraid you'd say there was no rain. But it'll have to rain sooner or later.

Can you access the cistern water to use for non-potable tasks?

You could try adding a pop bottle or two full of water to the toilet tanks and see if it still flushes okay. If so, you'll save water. If not, you can always take them out again.

You could either siphon the water out of your kitchen sinks after you do dishes or use dish pans so you could pour the water into containers and use it for watering.

I don't know how you feel about disposable dishes. Personally, I'm not a fan and I very rarely use them at home. But when we travel, we often use them almost exclusively to save time and work on busy days. It's a great way to avoid making dirty dishes. A lot of times we use only our SS flatware and the rest disposables. We can go days without washing dishes, and then it takes very little water just to wash silverware.

You could also cook multiple meals at once, so you can freeze and/or just reheat. That would generate less stuff to clean up.

[Spirit Deer]

I'm also opposed to buying bottled water, but that would be another way to stretch your ration further.

[sunshine]

I use dishpans for washing dishes and then either use the water for flushing the toilet or watering the vegetable garden.

There is no more water in the cistern - we used that earlier in the summer for watering the garden. We never thought we'd go so long without rain. We got 1/4 inch last night and that was the first measurable rain since mid May

So far our restrictions are for no outdoor watering, no washing cars or exteriors of structures, no water at restaurants unless specifically ordered, no filling of swimming pools, hot tubs, etc.,

[larabelle]

Try a loveable loo
LOVEABLE LOO - Eco Toilet

[sunshine]

Well, I grew up using an outhouse. . . I suppose the loveable loo isn't too much different. Dh would not be able to manage it, but if things get really bad I guess we could look into that as well.

[imagine]

We are under water restrictions. How would water rationing work? How would water be rationed?

The problem that has been happening locally is foundation and basement slipping due to lack of water. I know ours has shifted and a few new cracks have happened. Basement and foundation repair trucks have been seen everywhere lots of expensive business headed their way. It was been recommended that people water foundations of the houses. Everyone's' outside water is going toward foundation and veggie gardens, although most gardens are already dead. So are most flowers.

The kids and I saw a flower today and their was much joy at its beauty. Almost as much as when it did rain a while back. Neighbors all ran out to she what it was. Came with to much wind though and the neighbors lost a very old tree.

[sunshine]

What they say would occur for the rationing -- you get a set amount of water per person in the household. After that the cost of the water rises astronomically. There is also talk of shutting off water if you go over the limit by a certain amount.

[imagine]

So going after the wallet first. Then if that doesn't help then actual turning off the water. I would definitely be making plans like you are doing.


What is the source of your water? river, lake, underground water, aquifer.

Would they turn it off after you reached your quota or turn it off for a certain amount of time. Like 12 hours or 24 hours a week? Much like rolling blackouts are used to conserve/ration electricity?

http://www.ehow.com/info_8747950_water-rationing.html

[Aqua Blue]

It would seem to me that you would come within the water rationing with what you are doing right now.

[sunshine]

Our water comes from a local, small lake . . . this lake furnishes water for 4 small towns and the surrounding rural residents too.

And yes, what I'm doing will probably keep me under the limits for the rationing. . . but no need to waste if I can find other ways to cut.

[ladytoysdream]

We are fortunate here that we have our own well. Yesterday we had a bit of a scare because the neighbor stopped by and said his was out of water. I talked to the well guy this morning who was working on it, and he thought it was either a line leak or a electrical problem. The neighbors well is over 160 ft deep.
Ours is 92 ft. The 2 wells are probably just over 1000 ft apart. I am thinking we are on different veins or pools of water under the surface. We are not having any problems so far. We have been very restrictive with our water this summer due to the drought conditions. Not taking any chances.
Our big garden has done well without extra hand watering due to heavy mulching, and afternoon shade from our pine trees. We do have to hand water our veggies in pots out front.
I have been re-using rinse water from the clothes washer. The water left over from cooking gets used to water the flowers out front. I often use a laundry soap bottle filled with the dish rinse water for the toilet because I know one full bottle will get the job done.
Anything I can think of to lessen the amount water we use, I do.
If I have to , I will take laundry to the laundramat. I hope I don't have to, as I really dislike that extra chore.

[josantoro]

We are on a well (dug) and in years when the water table is low, we have to conserve. (We always take navy showers anyway. )
I use 2 dishpans - one for washing, one for rinsing. Save rinse water to flush toilet. Use dishwater to water outside plants.
Anyway you can catch some shower water by stopping up the tub, use it for flushing?

Also how about a laundromat for washing clothes?