N.C. Senator Ellie Kinnaird's Newsletter

October 18, 2007 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Ellie Kinnaird

While I normally send you updates on legislation of interest in the General Assembly, I wanted to reach out to you today for another reason: I am asking you to help our state conserve water. This drought is the worst in our state’s history, and I know we are all concerned and are doing whatever we can.

The North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance compiled a list of the top 10 things you can do at home to conserve water. I thought you might find these tips helpful:

1. Follow your local water use restrictions. The most important thing you can during times of drought is to follow your local water municipalities current water restrictions. You can even get ahead of the curve and begin to conserve before restrictions are needed.

You can check your community’s water restrictions here: http://www.ncwater.org/Drought_Monitoring/reporting/displaystate.php

2. Refit your plumbing. Determine the water output of your plumbing (faucets, showers, etc.) and either replace fixtures with newer, low flow models or install water-saving devices. Some cities, counties, or utilities may even offer rebates for replacing older fixtures.

Place a water-filled bottle in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water needed to fill it. Using low-flow devices at the tap can reduce consumption as much as 50 percent. Replace older toilets that use from 3.5 to 7 gallons per flush with new ultra low-flush toilets that use only 1.6 gallons per flush. Installing a 0.5 gallon-per-minute faucet aerator will reduce the amount of water used by 77 percent compared to traditional 2.2 gallon-per-minute faucets.

3. Check for leaks and repair them. Leaks account for a significant portion of water used nationwide. In a typical home, leaks amount to about 15 percent of all household indoor water use.

Check tub and sink faucets for drips and replace washers and “O-rings” as necessary. Put food coloring in your toilet tank and watch if the coloring shows up in the toilet bowl before flushing. If so, replace the leaking flap. Turn off all water to your home and look at the readout dial on your water meter. If the dial moves, you have a leak. Check pipes coming into the house for leaks and have them repaired immediately. Don’t forget to check outside faucets and garden hoses. One undetected leak can waste 500 gallons of water per month.

4. Use indoor water wisely. Approximately half of all indoor water is used in the bathroom. The primary uses of water in the bathroom are flushing toilets and showering or bathing.

Turn off water while lathering, shampooing, shaving and brushing your teeth. Reducing showering time to five minutes can save an average of 20 to 40 gallons of water.

5. Know your plumbing. Take time to locate your main water shut-off valve and the water meter in your yard. Knowing where the main shut-off is can potentially prevent the loss of thousands of gallons of water.

6. Use dry cleanup. Dry clean up methods can be used to reduce both indoor and outdoor water use. Not only do they conserve water, dry clean up methods also protect the environment by reducing the amount of pollutants that run down the drain and enter our waterways.

Instead of hosing off your driveway and patio, use a broom to sweep away debris. Using dry cleanup methods not only saves lots of water, but also prevents oils and debris from entering public waterways.

7. Take advantage of free water. Collect the water you would otherwise allow to run down the drain, soak into the ground or evaporate for future use.

Catch rainwater from your gutters and use it to water your flowers and vegetables. Check if your city or county sells rain barrels at a reduced cost. Collect water from the bath/shower while waiting for it to heat up; use for watering plants. Catch water from air conditioners and heat pumps. You can collect 100 gallons of water or more during the summer by collecting the water produced by one heat pump.

8. Use appliances wisely. Maximize your use of water consuming appliances. Choose high efficiency appliances, such as Energy Star rated clothes or dishwashers, when replacements are needed.

Run washing machines and dishwashers only with full loads to maximize efficiency. Install water-saving dishwashers, front-loading washing machines and other appliances that help save water. Water-saving dishwashers use about 4 gallons of water, about one-third of the water needed by a standard dishwasher. Some water-conserving clothes washers use about 30 gallons of water for a 19-pound load, about the same that standard washers use for an eight-pound load.

9. Use a commercial carwash that recycles water. Many commercial carwashes recycle their wash water. By reclaiming and filtering the water used, commercial carwashes significantly reduce the amount of water required to clean each vehicle (between 8 and 32 gallons per vehicle according to the International Carwash Association).

Hosing your car off in the driveway can waste a significant amount of water. On the average, a “green” carwash can save from 23 to 42 gallons of water per wash because the water is filtered and used again.

10. Avoid using sink disposals for food scraps. Composting food scraps is much more economical than using a garbage disposal. In addition to conserving water, you can create rich compost material to help your garden retain soil moisture too.

Garbage disposals use several gallons of water needlessly during operation, plus they can add 50 percent to the volume of solids in your septic tank. Disposals can use around 11 gallons of water per minute.

Even with rainfall in the forecast, it will take us months to catch up. Together, we can all do our part to conserve water.

As always, please don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts on any issue you feel is important. I hope you have a good weekend, and thank you for the opportunity to serve you in the Senate.

Paid for by Ellie Kinnaird for Senate • PO Box 668, Carrboro, NC 27510 • 919-929-1607 •