This week, readers responded to the call for their personal stories of creative curtails with a flood of water-conservation suggestions. Readers were forthcoming, but many wanted to remain in the closet when it came to ways to cut usage — especially when the tips involved the water closet.
Tried and True
Having gone through a 2½-year drought in North Carolina, the motto for flushing the john was “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down,” says a Pinehurst reader.
“Another suggestion: Save the cold water in a pail in the shower while waiting for warm water,” she says. “When the first person finishes showering, the next person should take their shower then instead of waiting and having to go through the whole procedure again.”
The reader also suggests reviving the tradition of the Saturday night family baths.
“Just line up the whole family,” she says.
Hygiene Can Pay
We can not only take tandem or short showers but also turn the water off while lathering and then on again just to rinse off, says another reader of The Pilot. Also, she says, close the drain to the tub while you are showering and you will have water for several uses.
Here are just a few more of her suggestions:
1. Flush the toilets with recycled shower water. Just dip it out with a bucket and pour in the bowl (not the tank) and the toilet will automatically flush.
2. “Also I have called a local garden center and they told me that bath water will not hurt plants but does a great job in killing bugs. So we recycle bath water, again dip it out with a bucket, and pour it on our potted plants on the deck! They are thriving!”
3. “We also hooked a rain barrel to our downspout on our house. And with two-tenths of an inch of rain, we had over 100 gallons of wonderful rainwater for our shrubs. A 1,000-square-foot house will produce 165 gallons of water with one-tenth of an inch of rain. Try it. It really works,”
Laundry Pump
A couple living near Carthage with a private well for water say they have taken what they consider to be extreme conservation methods when doing their laundry.
According to the couple, they stop their household washing machine before it pumps out the water, during all cycles, into large garbage cans. They then used that water to flush toilets and water plants.
“I did not realize just how much water is used for a load of wash,” the resident said. “Of course we do the usual collecting water in pans from all our sinks, and almost all our gray water is recovered.”
Technical Gadget
Tom Kupper of Whispering Pines says he recommends an appliance purchased at a local hardware store to help in the battle to conserve.
Specifically the water used for showering, dish-washing or from the laundry tub — or even rain that has collected on a low-level exterior terrace — may be sucked up and saved by a small, battery-powered suction pump and a rubber drain stopper, says Kupper.
“From a four-minute shower residents can suck up about eight or 10 gallons of waste water with your Attwood “water-buster” or similar device,” he says.
“The real problem in water conservation is not not using water, but in catching and reusing that water already used in a prudent manner,” Kupper says. “Reusing depends upon relocating the water held back from a drain to a container which can easily be taken to, say, your driveway for car washing. A wheeled garbage container comes to mind.”
Regarding enforcement, Kupper suggests neighbors keep an eye open to abuse.
“So far, no penalties for non-compliance have been announced,” he says. “Surely they have been decided upon, and will be announced soon. And don’t forget: Report your neighbor. The honor system can’t work.”
Rain Barrels
Remember the old rain barrels at the corners of the house that collects rain off the roof? They still work today, according to one reader.
Last Friday, this reader placed an empty 30-gallon garbage can in a sensible spot and it filled in about 30 minutes during what he called a “quickie” storm.
“I now have water for garden for a few days and it was so easy,” he says.
In a second tip, the same reader says those plastic basins the hospital folks send home with discharged patients fit nicely in bathroom sinks to collect gray water from hand-washing and other tasks.
Humidity Provides
“I have a three-gallon bucket which I use to collect the water from the condensation drain on our central air conditioner and use to water flowers,” says Greg Mastaler of Pinehurst. “In a 24-hour period, I can get as much as six gallons and more. A bucket under a window air conditioner could collect a fair amount also.”
Another hint is just for businesses or homeowners who use dehumidifiers, says a Pinehurst resident.
“The water from those containers can be used to water flowers or anything else that needs a boost from water,” she says.
