water efficiency

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Heat and Water

First, the heat.

Our forecasted high for today is 100F (38C).  It’s going to be hot again tomorrow and Friday before cooling down for the weekend.  I have both the temperament and the complexion for the British Aisles, so this weather puts me out of sorts. Mouse agrees.

Mouse Trying to Cool Off

Mouse Trying to Cool Off

My lettuce looks a bit on the wilted side, but the rest of the garden crops are enjoying the summer.  (Oh wait, it’s still spring…it’s hard to tell anymore).  The pumpkin seedlings are up, the raspberries  are flourishing and the tomatoes are yelling, ‘look ma, I’ve grown!’

sprouting pumpkins

Sprouting Pumpkins

tomatoes and raspberries

Tomatoes and Raspberries Enjoy the heat

Unfortunately we’re in the middle of a terrible drought.  Above-average temperatures further evaporate our low reservoirs. Dry grasses increase fire risk.

Which brings me to water.

I met with Cheri Garza of San Jose Water Company for a household water audit. She really knows her business, and taught me a lot. Outdoors, she inspected the hose bibbs, our irrigation system, the irrigation schedule and the water main.  She tested for leaks and watering efficiency, then measured the square footage of our lawn.  She liked the sidewalk strip conversion (we removed the lawn and capped several sprinkler heads.  She said a lot of water goes to waste in the strip.

Indoors, she checked faucets, showers and toilets in each bathroom, then checked the kitchen faucet, dishwasher and washing machine.

On the plus side, our indoor water usage is efficient.  All the faucets, toilets and showers use 2 gallons per minute or less.  I do minimal hand-washing , which is less efficient than a fully loaded dishwasher and the same for clothes washing.  The down side is that it will be harder to reduce when mandatory rationing sets in.

Outdoors, however, there are many ways to improve our water efficiency.  San Jose Water is offering partial rebates and we qualify for all three.  They allow you one year from the date of the audit to complete the projects.  Originally they rebated seventy-five cents per square foot.  They’ve increased that amount through September to $2 per square foot if you replace water-thirsty lawn with approved native and drought tolerant plantings.

The second rebate offers up to $5 per sprinkler head.  Our sprinklers are only four years old, but the new and  improved Rainbird U-Series uses up to 30% less water.

The third rebate went into effect in January and applies to a graywater system.  Water savings amounts to 17 gallons per person, per day, or on average 14,565 gallons per household per year. I need to do my research on this, but on the surface, I love it.  You divert graywater from your washing machine and use it to water non-edible landscaping.

graywater system

Water Wise Group graywater/greywater system

Here are a few general tips for water savings outdoors:

  • Drip irrigation is the most efficient way to water landscaping.
  • Water in the morning, to reduce evaporation
  • In California, turn off your irrigation system completely in December until mid-March.
  • Water your lawn for three to seven minutes, three to four days a week.
  • Go Native! Attract birds and beneficial insects and at the same time conserve water

To save water indoors:

  • Shower for ten minutes or less
  • Don’t flush at night
  • Run full loads of dishes and laundry
  • Replace out of date toilets with 1.28 gpf

It’s a lot of information to digest, but I’m excited at the possibilities.

If you have more tips, please share them in the comments below.

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Paradigm Shift: Gardening in a Drought

Thomas Kuhn used the duck-rabbit optical illusion to demonstrate the way in which a paradigm shift could cause one to see the same information in an entirely different way. Source, Wikipedia

Duck-Rabbit_illusion

Used to illustrate a paradigm shift. Do you see the duck? The rabbit? Both?

I’m applying those principles to my garden.  Instead of simply planting what I like year after year, I’m now thinking about water conservation first, then figuring out from there what to plant.  This isn’t a new reality for our semi-arid climate.  In an average year, our rainfall is a mere 14 to 18 inches (35 to 38 cm).

Living in a developed country, we take water for granted.  We open a faucet and water flows: fresh, safe and abundant.  Actually, the first two are correct, but as we face year two of a drought, further complicated by an unseasonably warm winter and spring, abundant may no longer be the case.

We’re making incremental steps to reduce our water usage. While these changes are small and, forgive the cliché, a mere drop in the bucket, I think they’re worth doing.

Last week we finished removing the lawn from the sidewalk strip.  This allowed us to cap off several sprinkler heads, and divert a smaller amount of water to one raised flower bed.

Over the weekend, I reduced the number of water-thirsty pots by half, then planted what remained with succulents. Native to warm, dry climates, succulents can go days without a drink.

Instead of lavender, drought-tolerant Mexican Bush Sage lines the deck.

There are a number of things you can do to improve water efficiency, but we’re already doing them:

  • Watering in the early morning
  • Use of a drip-irrigation system, delivering measured water directly to the source to avoid run off and rapid evaporation.
  • Use of native plants
  • Mulch to preserve moisture in the soil

The next logical  step is to replace the lawn.  Once a status symbol of the rich, water-thirsty lawns eventually found their way into suburban gardens.  I hope their popularity is on the way out.

Major changes are time-consuming and costly, so we are making our changes  incrementally.

Here’s what we planted:

Senecio Vitalis

Senecio Vitalis

Panda Plant Kalanchoe tomentosa

Panda Plant ‘Kalanchoe tomentosa’ from Madagascar

assorted succulents
Left, Echeveria agavoides * Upper right, Echeveria peacockii * Lower right, Rainbow Elephant Bush Portulacaria afra ‘Variegata’

The other part of the water equation is indoor use. I’ve ordered a free water audit through the City of San Jose. They read your water meter, check for leaks, and determine water flow from sinks, showers and toilets. They make suggestions for laundry and dishwasher efficiency, shower duration, etc. They’ll audit our garden use as well. I’ll report back when they complete our audit next week.

Have you ever made a paradigm shift? Please let me know in the comments below.