Wanna save water? Try carpooling.
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 8, 2008 at 6:09 amFrom AlterNet:
Water probably is not the first thing that comes to mind in thinking about making cars and trucks move. Until, that is, you look at the amount of water needed to refine oil, produce biofuels, or cool power plants that will be needed to meet the demand for electricity as more electric vehicles hit the roads.
That’s what Carey King and Michael Webber have done. The bottom line, according to the University of Texas researchers: As the United States tries to end what President Bush once referred to as the country’s addiction to oil, the country likely will be trading foreign oil for domestic water. That’s not a bad thing, they argue — as long as people realize that rising water demand from the energy sector could have a significant effect on regional water supplies and plan accordingly. Energy represents one more set of users joining thirsty urban residents and farmers at the water trough.
Welcome to the water-energy nexus — another arena where water supplies (or the lack of them), climate change (and efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions), and rising populations (especially in already water-stressed regions) collide.
Read more from AlterNet by clicking here.
Water agencies kick off new campaign, Children to be voice for serious environmental issues
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 8, 2008 at 6:07 amFrom the Temecula Valley News:
Southern California’s water supply is looking bleak.
Western Riverside County water agencies came together at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet on Nov. 1 to launch the “Water – Use it Wisely” (WUIW) conservation campaign urging businesses and consumers to stop wasting water. Diamond Valley is southern California’s largest freshwater reservoir. At four and a half miles long and two miles wide, it holds nearly 260 billion gallons of water.
Over the past two years more than a third of the region’s water reserves have been depleted to deal with drought and court-ordered cutbacks from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The reservoir was designed to provide a six-month emergency water supply and a year and a half ago the water level was at its peak. It has now drawn down 40 percent.
The conference gave everyone the chance to see firsthand the impacts of the drought.
The agencies that came together were Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD), Western Municipal Water Districts (WMWD), Riverside Public Utilities, Rancho California Water District and the family of Western Riverside County agencies in conjunction with the Western Riverside Council of Governments (WRCOG) Environmental Youth Conference featuring more than 100 middle school students learning not just about water but the environment in general as well as sustainability practices.
Read more from the Temecula Valley News by clicking here.
State: Manteca households need to cut water use 20%
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 6, 2008 at 3:36 pmFrom the Manteca Bulletin:
Manteca residents are way ahead of many neighboring communities in reducing water use. But it still isn’t good enough.
The state has mandated that jurisdictions within the Northern San Joaquin Valley reduce their overall water use to 174 gallons per household per day by 2020. The region currently has an average daily use of 250 gallons. Manteca’s average use is at 215 gallons.
Manteca’s targeted water consumption reflects a need to reduce water use per household by almost 20 percent over the next 12 years.
Each region in the state has different mandated reduction targets for water consumption. The North Coast region, as an example, currently uses 170 gallons per household. Water purveyors in that region must get average household consumption down to 140 gallons by 2020.
It is part of an overall effort by the state to maximize California’s surface water as well as aquifer resources.
Read more from the Manteca Bulletin by clicking here.
Eastern Municipal Water District’s tiered rates punish biggest users, reward frugal
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 6, 2008 at 5:49 amFrom Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:
The heaviest residential water users from Moreno Valley to San Jacinto to Temecula could pay 33 percent more than they do now under a tiered rate system proposed by Eastern Municipal Water District. But low and moderate users would likely see no increase, and possibly a decrease, under the plan, said Chuck Rathbone, the district’s chief financial officer.
Tiered rates were proposed in July. The numbers revealed Wednesday at a district board meeting are the first definitive indication of what prices would be.
The board will meet again Wednesday to hear more details and is expected to vote Nov. 19 whether to go ahead with the plan. Final approval is scheduled for Jan. 7 at the board’s headquarters in Perris.
Two proposed rate changes are in the works for Eastern’s 130,000 households.
Read more from the Press-Enterprise by clicking here.
First rainfall, end of Daylight Savings Time offers consumers water-saving opportunities
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 2, 2008 at 7:52 amFrom Market Watch, this press release from the Metropolitan Water District:
As most Southlanders welcomed the season’s first rainfall and prepared for the annual ritual of turning back their clocks with the end of daylight savings this weekend, officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California pressed consumers to roll back their outdoor watering practices, as well.
“Transitioning into fall weather means making adjustments. And this fall, it is vital that we all make changes to lower outdoor water use,” said Metropolitan General Manager JeffKightlinger. “With more rain expected this weekend, now is the perfect time to act. Plants, flowers and lawns need less water now that they’ve survived the summer heat. You should only be watering two or three days a week at the most. Gardens and plants will do better with less, and you’ll save precious water and money,” Kightlinger said.
The water-saving reminder comes a day after the state Department of Water Resources announced that Metropolitan’s initial allocation of water supplies from Northern California, through the State Water Project, is only 15 percent of a full allocation. Low reservoir storage levels, combined with environmental factors in Northern California’s Sacramento-SanJoaquin Delta, are reasons behind the low initial supplies.
Kightlinger said Metropolitan continues to monitor weather conditions and water storage levels. If the region faces a water shortage in 2009, Metropolitan has a plan in place to equitably distribute supplies among its 26 member public agencies, while preserving emergency reserves.
If Metropolitan were to cut back its deliveries to its member agencies next year, Kightlinger said it would likely trigger various forms of water rationing in portions of the Southland. “The stakes are too high for all of us not to do our part and conserve as much water as we can,” Kightlinger said. “The outdoors, where about 60 percent of water is used, offers the best opportunity to save. We can start this weekend by shutting off our sprinklers when it rains.”
As the region transitions into the fall’s expected cooler temperatures, Debra C. Man, Metropolitan’s chief operating officer and assistant general manager, urged consumers and businesses to visit “bewaterwise.com” for the latest conservation tips and information on California Friendly landscaping and rebates for water-saving devices and appliances. The Web site, hosted by Metropolitan and the Family of Southern California Water Agencies, also offers water-saving irrigation tools that help consumers tweak outdoor irrigation schedules to be more efficient and true to their landscape needs.
“These simple tools can save money and water by synchronizing sprinkler schedules and seasonal water needs,” Man said.The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 19million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.
Riverside students hear warnings about water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 2, 2008 at 7:37 amFrom Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:
Drought. Water shortage. Conservation.
These are common phrases during the summer months.
Rainy as it may be this weekend, the crisis isn’t over, water district officials said.
On Saturday, western Riverside County water agencies, including Eastern and Western municipal water districts, took a new water conservation campaign to about 100 middle school students attending an environmental conference at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet.
It is the first time that local agencies are joining forces to get the word out. And the middle school students were the first to hear the slogan: “There are a number of ways to save water, and they all start with you.”
Soon, billboards and fliers with the slogan and a water conservation tip will be up on freeways and tucked in customers’ bills.
Read more from the Press-Enterprise by clicking here.
As drought continues, saving water is essential, says editorial
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 30, 2008 at 5:31 amFrom MyDesert.com, this editorial:
The drought situation is not good. Deeper cuts in the statewide water allotment could prove to be, as one official describes it, “Draconian.” Those state water deliveries include the Coachella Valley.
A third consecutive dry year could mean that delivery of water to the valley will be at its lowest levels since 1993. It doesn’t take a mathematician to realize that less water and more growth does will not provide a harmonious balance.
But we can do something about it. First off, we shouldn’t panic. Yes, the facts are the facts. Last year, the state delivered 60 percent of California’s water allotments. This year it was down to 35 percent, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a drought.
Next year, deeper cuts could hover at less than 20 percent of the water needed for Californians. While it is a significant decrease, it’s not yet a fact. We still have time to change our ways and develop new habits.
Read more from MyDesert.com by clicking here.
San Diego: Water conservation lags; Rural usage spikes offset urban savings
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 28, 2008 at 10:09 pmFrom the San Diego Union-Tribune:
Water districts in more urban areas of the county such as San Diego, Encinitas and Del Mar made big strides to reduce their use of tap water over the summer. But increased conservation by residents and businesses in those communities was essentially offset by rural districts, where farmers didn’t conserve as heavily from July through September as they had during the first half of 2008.
Overall, the county’s 23 main water districts continue to save more water than they did last year, but their combined conservation rate fell slightly during the summer from 12.8 percent to about 12 percent. And less than half the districts are meeting the regional goal of trimming water consumption at least 10 percent.
The data, provided by the San Diego County Water Authority, compare January through September with the same period in 2007.
The uptick in non-farm conservation gave water officials reason for mild optimism heading into the winter, but it doesn’t change the perilous situation the county faces next year. Water district officials countywide said 2009 is likely to bring mandatory water-use restrictions and higher rates meant to decrease demand.
More from the San Diego Union-Tribune by clicking here.
The big criticism of water conservation
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 27, 2008 at 6:21 amFrom the Voice of San Diego:
Next year brings the possibility of water rationing and the first mandatory water use restrictions for San Diego County residents since 1992. The Rockies are suffering from years of prolonged drought. A federal judge has restricted how much Sierra Nevada snowmelt can be pulled out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a step taken to attempt to keep a tiny fish, the delta smelt, from going extinct. If the region’s residents are to avoid being told by the government how they can use water next year, they’ll have to follow Edwards’ example.
As the possibility of restrictions on use grows, water agencies face two predominant criticisms from the residents they’re asking to save. Some residents, such as Edwards, say they have conserved all they can. Others, such as North Park resident Judi O’Boyle, question why Mayor Jerry Sanders is asking people to save water at the same time the city is approving new developments like the 4,800-unit Quarry Falls in Mission Valley.
“You can’t stop all development, you have to grow,” O’Boyle said. “But these major huge developments have to have solutions to pollution and water before they’re allowed to go forward.”
The backlash from residents promises to be one of the greatest challenges water agencies will face as they increase their calls for conservation and threaten the possibility of mandatory use restrictions next year. Those could include specifying days of the week when lawn-watering is allowed and making restaurants serve water only on request.
“This is going to be a tough change for folks,” said Mark Weston, general manager of the Helix Water District in La Mesa. “A lot of people have saved water, and they’re frustrated because they’ve helped. And now people who are still using a lot of water — it’s their responsibility to use less.”
Read more from the Voice of San Diego by clicking here.
“Tightening the Water Belt” is the focus of new PBS segment airing tonight in Los Angeles
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 22, 2008 at 10:07 amFrom the ACWA, this press release:
Making long-term changes in the way Californians use water is the focus of the latest segment in the “California’s Water” series for public television, produced by Huell Howser and underwritten by the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). The segment, “Tightening the Water Belt,” is set to air at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Oct. 22) on KCET in Los Angeles. Following its debut, it will air statewide on PBS stations (check local listings for details).
In the 30-minute segment, Huell visits the City of Long Beach to learn about its proactive approach to getting its customers to reduce their water use. The city was the first community to adopt mandatory water conservation since the last statewide drought in 1986-1992, and has launched a high-profile effort to educate residents on the benefits of using less water outdoors.
With all signs pointing to continued water supply challenges, many California communities are looking at ways to tighten their water belts. “As far as water is concerned, it’s not business as usual in California,” Huell says in the segment. “We are at a point where never again can we take our water for granted.”
Huell gets a primer on outdoor water use and some of the ways homeowners can slash their monthly water bills by watering less, replacing thirsty lawns with water-efficient landscaping and installing “SMART” controllers for their irrigation systems. He gets a first-hand look at an attractive front-yard makeover sponsored by the Long Beach Water Department and chronicled in a recent local television program, “The Reluctant Gardener.”
Kevin Wattier, general manager of the water department, said the city has adopted a long-term focus on changing behavior when it comes to water use. “People need to recognize that we have to do a better job in California of conserving water,” he tells Huell.
The “California’s Water” series began airing in April 2006.
ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.
Carlsbad plans water conservation
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 21, 2008 at 6:01 amFrom the North County Voice:
“Without the massive quantities of water that flow daily southward via aqueducts from northern California and the Colorado River, most of southern California would be a dry, brown desert covered in scrub and sagebrush just like it was 100 years ago,” said General Manager Mark Stone of the Carlsbad Municipal Water District.
With southland populations continuing to grow and water coming from the Sacramento region beginning to dwindle in recent years, Carlsbad and other San Diego area cities are searching for ways to reduce water consumption. Recently, the Carlsbad City Council held workshops toward drafting a new water conservation ordinance.
“Our water board staff has been putting together new guidelines on how to reduce our water usage during drought months, and we are in the middle of a drought right now,” said Stone.
“If you look at history, this area was all a desert before it was developed. Carlsbad doesn’t draw water off any local reservoirs. We are 100 percent dependant on water shipped down from upstate. The price of water is going up statewide for everyone,” said Stone.
Read more from the North County Voice by clicking here.
Southern Nevada Water Authority details its efforts to promote water conversation
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 18, 2008 at 5:46 amFrom In Business Las Vegas:
Las Vegas has a reputation as the nation’s capital of excess. That reputation has extended beyond the Strip as the fast-paced growth of the past two decades led to massive increases in demand for resources such as electricity and water.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority tried to change that image last week as hundreds of water researchers, business owners and policymakers met for a Water Smart conference at the South Coast convention center.
Staffers for the valley’s water management agency outlined steps it is taking to get people to reduce water consumption and to reclaim whatever wastewater they can.
Judy Brandt, a geographic information systems analyst for the Water Authority, gave an overview of a high-tech project the agency has undertaken to seek out the valley’s biggest landscape waterwasters. Through aerial photographs, infrared images and a combination of software programs, the authority’s staff has been able to find homes, businesses and even road medians in the valley using large amounts of water-sucking turf as landscaping. The system they developed is more than 90 percent accurate.
When combined with municipal parcel maps, the agency can target specific water consumers with brochures and literature about conservation incentives such as its cash for lawns project. This targeted marketing campaign has improved response to the program by more than 300 percent, Brandt said.
The authority is also considering using the imaging and infrared technology to help municipalities enforce existing conservation laws.
Read more from In Business Las Vegas by clicking here.
Eastern Municipal Water District to give away free toilets, installation
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 10, 2008 at 6:34 amFrom Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:
The Eastern Municipal Water District has a new twist this year in its ongoing efforts to conserve water by replacing water-guzzling toilets in its central and southwest Riverside County service area. Instead of homeowners picking up a new toilet at a central site then turning in an old toilet a week or two later, district directors embarked on a new strategy of hiring a company that does the installations.
The program, which started in February, was so popular that the 4,000 toilets were taken in four months. “We actually had to put 3,000 people on reservations,” said spokesman Peter Odencrans. “We’re going through the process of contacting these people and try to make arrangements for them.”
Eastern’s board authorized the installation of another 5,500 toilets at its Sept. 24 meeting.
Residents who are eligible and want to swap out their pre-1994 toilets for a high-efficiency model should contact the program, Odencrans said.
Read more from the Press-Enterprise by clicking here.
San Jose approves planning document stressing water conservation through 2030
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 10, 2008 at 6:31 amFrom the Berryessa Sun:
As drought conditions persist in California and the West, San Jose officials worry long-term about delivering adequate drinking water supplies to the city’s growing population. A new plan eyeing ways to conserve water and educate the public about limiting water use in the city and surrounding county hopes to ease the burden.
San Jose City Council unanimously voted Sept. 23 to approve a formal planning document stressing water conservation through the year 2030.
Mansour Nasser, the city’s deputy director for water resources, said over the next three years the plan will act as a roadmap and help city staff create ordinances, programs and foster technology to achieve greater water conservation. “For example, the plan will look at what kind of new technology that we don’t have now to have more water conservation,” Nasser said.
San Jose’s city attorney is exploring tiered rates. “With tiered rates, the more you use, the more you pay,” Nasser said. “The below-average user pays less for water.”
In the plan, the threat of drought and the projected increase in jobs and residents are considered, and warning signs are outlined. The plan states, “The projected growth in population and jobs in the city and county has resulted in the Santa Clara Valley Water District forecasting that water demand will exceed supply by 2030 during normal years. In addition, other challenges are redefining what constitutes a normal year. Currently, these challenges include reduced precipitation and reductions in allocation of imported water due to pumping restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.”
Read more from the Berryessa Sun by clicking here.
San Diego County facing water rationing
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 9, 2008 at 7:30 amFrom San Diego’s Channel 8:
For the first time since the early 1990s, San Diego County is facing the possibility of water rationing, and the threat is expected to loom for years. When you turn on your spigot the water is always there, but water officials say look at their reservoirs across the state and you’ll see we are facing a shortage. Although your water supply seems never ending, looks can be deceiving.
“This is going to be the most serious water issue that we faced in Southern California,” Helix Water District General Manager Mark Weston said. He says severe drought has left Lake Powell and Lake Mead only 50 percent full, Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville are only 25 percent full, which means less water is flowing towards Southern California.
“We have to understand we live at the end of the pipelines and there isn’t enough water,” Weston said.
More from San Diego’s Channel 8 by clicking here.
If mandatory rationing occurs, it will be implemented differently, depending upon the water supplier. More from the Voice of San Diego:
If the call for conservation continues being unsuccessful and mandatory restrictions are put in place, agencies’ strategies for enforcing those measures will vary. Many will turn to financial penalties for excessive use. Homeowners who use water excessively will see a bigger increase in their bills than those who don’t. Rates that would double or triple a users’ typical bill are possible.
“When the rates go way up because we have to use way less, that’s when we’ll see a noted reduction in the use of water,” said Mark Weston, general manager of the Helix Water District, which supplies La Mesa.
Some agencies are planning tougher steps. Mark Rogers, general manager of the Sweetwater Authority, which supplies National City and parts of Chula Vista, said his agency’s board will consider a proposal in December to cap the amount of water it delivers to customers based on their historic consumption levels.
Deliveries would vary from home-to-home and business-to-business, Rogers said. Homeowners and businesses would be allowed 20 percent of the water they used based on a three-year average from 2004-2006. Instead of fining violators, flow restrictors on water pipes would halt deliveries to scofflaws.
Rogers calls it “the adult approach.” He said the agency fears financial penalties won’t dissuade some homeowners from keeping green lawns if they can simply pay nominal fines to continue excessive use.
“We don’t want people to be able to pay their way out,” he said. “I’m not going to tell you how to use your water. I am going to tell you how much you can use.”
Read more from the Voice of San Diego by clicking here.
Long Beach ends fiscal year with record low water consumption: City achieves near 10 percent reduction in water demand for the year; urges others to strengthen efforts
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 9, 2008 at 7:27 amFrom the Long Beach Water Department:
The Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners has announced that Long Beach water demand for Fiscal Year 2008 has set a new record 10-year low. The announcement means that less water was consumed in Long Beach this past fiscal year, than any other year over the past decade. In fact, Long Beach consumed less water this past fiscal year than the city did during the height of the 1987-1992 drought, with mandatory rationing and a population 15 percent smaller than today. September 2008 also set a new record 10-year low, marking the city’s 9th record setting month for low water use since the Board of Water Commissioner’s declaration of an imminent water supply shortage in September 2007.
Long Beach Conservation Effectiveness Indicators
1. Water demand for FY 2008, was 9.2 percent below the 10-year average.
2. Water demand for FY 2008 was 9.4 percent below water demand for Fiscal Year 2007, and 8.5 percent below water demand for FY 2006.
3. September 2008 demand is 11.1 percent below the 10-year average for September, and a new 10-year record low.
4. Long Beach water demand in FY 2008 was 4,250 acre-feet lower than the lowest year on record over the past 10 years (an acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons of water)
6. Long Beach used 6,368 acre-feet less water in FY 2008 than the city used in FY 2007, and 4,540 acre-feet less than the city used in FY 2006.
7. Long Beach used 6,200 acre-feet less water in FY 2008 than the 10-year average (this is a year’s worth of water for a town of 40,000 people)
8. Long Beach set record 10-year lows for water consumption in 9 of the last 12 months, and near record 10-year lows in 3 of the last 12 months.John Allen, President of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners, cites marked human behavior and attitude change as the reason for the city’s record setting year. “This is an entire community coming together and engaging itself in worthy endeavor. We simply must change our lifestyle so that inefficient and wasteful uses of water, particularly outdoor uses, are no longer tolerated by anyone,” he said.
According to Kevin Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department, Long Beach took the action it did more than a year ago now not because of a “drought,” but because “we recognized then the need to permanently reduced our water consumption specifically due to the permanent reductions in water supply imports to southern California.” “We no longer have enough water to meet demand here in southern California, even in normal hydrologic years. Every city in southern California needs to implement mandatory prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water, and make those prohibitions permanent.”
On September 13, 2007, the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners issued a Declaration of Imminent Water Supply Shortage and activated the City’s Emergency Water Supply Shortage Plan. As a result, the Board of Water Commissioners issued mandatory prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water. “The Board took the action it did over a year ago now to forestall and lessen the impact of an expected water supply shortage,” according to Board president, John Allen. The Board’s Declaration was necessitated by the profound impact of permanent reductions to imported water deliveries into southern California; the dramatic reductions in water storage levels in key reservoirs in northern California; and climate conditions.
The Long Beach Water Department is an urban, southern California , retail water supply agency and the standard in water conservation and environmental stewardship.
Ryan J. Alsop
Director of Government & Public Affairs
Long Beach Water
California faces its most critical water challenge
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 8, 2008 at 7:42 amFrom the Maxim News Network, the news network for the United Nations and the international community:
Home to over 12% of the country’s population, California is recognized as the most populated US state. It is also one of the fastest growing states of the country.
Additionally, as of 2007, California’s gross state product stood at US$1.812 trillion. In fact, its GDP is larger than all but eight countries in the world. The state contributes to 13% of the US GDP.
Despite its size and trillion dollar GDP, the state has faced numerous challenges – budgetary shortfalls, energy crises, etc.
And now the state is also facing its greatest water challenge in recent history. Public water agencies are only receiving 35% of their annual allocation from the State Water Project this year – the lowest level since the 1991 drought. And in coming years, deliveries will likely be less. According to the initial forecasts from the National Weather Service, the drought conditions in the state will likely to continue into next year.
Observes Lester Snow, the director of the California Department of Water Resources, eighteen communities across the state have implemented some form of mandatory water rationing. And many other water agencies in the state have asked customers to comply with some form of a voluntary water conservation program. Agencies have also implemented price change initiatives to make conservation a financially appealing choice.
More from the Maxim News Network by clicking here.
Starbucks responds to water waste reports
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 8, 2008 at 7:35 amStarbucks responds to the recent water wasting expose from the U.K.’s Sun in the Cost Sector Catering website:
Starbucks has responded to another one of The Sun newspaper crusades after they were accused of wasting 23 million litres of water everyday. The tabloid newspaper compared the wastage as enough water to meet the needs of drought-riddled Namibia. Accusing the coffee chain of leaving taps continually running in its 10,000 stores worldwide, The Sun described the policy as ‘crackpot’.
Starbucks insisted it always looks to reduce its water usage and said the dipper well system it uses is commonplace within the food and drink industry.
A spokesperson told us: “Starbucks challenge is to balance water conservation with the need for customer safety. The dipper well system currently in use in Starbucks retail stores ensures that we meet or exceed our own and local health standards. Dipper wells use a stream of continuous fresh-running water to rinse away food residue, help keep utensils clean and prevent bacterial growth. This technique is common and well-accepted in the industry.”
The coffee chain added that there is always an opportunity to scale back on water wastage: “Dipper wells are commonly used in catering but there are alternative options and these are being investigated, however switching to a new system may take a while. In order to minimise water usage in our stores, store partners (employees) are encouraged to keep the dipper well flow to a minimum during operating hours. They are instructed to turn it off completely when the store is closed.
Read more of Starbuck’s response by clicking here.
The great drain robbery: Starbucks pours millions of litres of precious water down the drain at its coffee shops
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 6, 2008 at 7:59 am
Thanks to David over at Westchester Parents for sending me this one! From the U.K.’s Sun (which I think is similar to the Enquirer -?):
STARBUCKS was blasted by environmental experts last night after The Sun discovered it pours millions of litres of precious water down the drain at its coffee shops. The giant coffee chain has a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop at all its 10,000 outlets worldwide, wasting 23.4 MILLION litres a day. That would provide enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa or fill an Olympic pool every 83 minutes.
Every Starbucks branch has a cold tap behind the counter providing water for a sink called a “dipper well”, used for washing spoons and utensils. Staff are banned from turning the water off under bizarre health and safety rules — bosses claim a constant flow stops germs breeding in the taps.
Starbucks has built up a massive chain, popular with coffee drinkers from Hollywood stars to builders, and proudly boasts of its work for the environment. But water companies accused the firm of HARMING the environment by frittering away a vital natural resource.
Apparently, this is also done in the Starbucks on this side of the big pond, too, so says the undercover team which went worldwide in their investigation. You can find out more about this shocking story, even view the photos & videos evidence from the U.K.’s Sun by clicking here!
Leaders’ example is all wet: Records show dozens of O.C. officials have increased their water consumption even as region faces a drought
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 4, 2008 at 6:16 amFrom the O. C. Register:
City leaders in Orange County topped off their swimming pools, soaked their yards or overlooked major plumbing leaks – even as water suppliers warned of a worsening drought and urged everyone to conserve, records and interviews show.
Those suppliers have said that residents will face higher prices and water rationing if the region cannot cut its consumption by at least 10 percent. But water records for 59 city officials show that two-thirds of them have fallen well short of that target this year.
In fact, half of them have increased their water consumption in 2008, compared with the same time last year. And some of them continue to use as much water in a week or so as the average resident of their city might use in a month.
19 out of the 59 reduced their water consumption by 10% or more. Read more from the O.C. Register by clicking here.
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