Building the Way to Water Efficiency

It's no revelation to say that water is going to be the most important resource of this century. We know of all kinds of alternatives to fossil fuels, but there is simply no substitute for water.

And although food crops are taking a lot of heat as being poorly managed, it may come as a surprise that more acreage is devoted to growing turf grass than any other crop in the United States. According to recent research, as much as 30 million acres of the country are covered in lawns, almost all of it drawing much-needed water -- and often drawing it to excess. Watering our lawns at high noon on a midsummer day is just one example of the bigger water problem: Across the board, businesses and individuals are simply consuming and wasting too much water.

Even as U.S. states are plagued by drought in increasing numbers -- not just in the typically dry Southwest, as shortages in Alabama, Georgia and even the Great Lakes region make clear -- consumer consumption behavior is changing far too slowly.

Perhaps the only good news is that the biggest cause of this problem is easily identified: "Consumers don't understand how much water they're consuming," said Mary Ann Dickinson, the executive director of the Alliance For Water Efficiency (AWE). Dickinson believes outdoor irrigation makes it all too easy to use water excessively, and that the time has come to re-evaluate how we use water.

Stepping in to help address the water crisis are a slew of companies and municipalities that are pushing the envelope on ways to maximize the efficiency of our water use, and bring businesses and consumers alike up to speed on becoming more water conscious.

Building the Way to Water Efficiency

A major part of the water problem is that water is often the most poorly thought out part of any green building curriculum, Dickinson said. She sees the biggest savings being realized from changing landscaping. "That will help reduce water use substantially, and it's taking us working with consumers, land holders, builders, architects -- everyone -- to reduce that residential component," she said.

Another part of the problem is that the services piece of the energy-savings infrastructure has not kept pace with the technology innovation. So while proven technologies exist, ease of use for consumers has yet to reach the convenience level of their Comcast service. It's got to be that easy for the technologies to be widely adopted.

Bridging the gap between consumer use and technologies available are city and state programs, mandates and rebates, as well as legislation that is increasingly pushing consumers to do what existing programs have not been able to do: force change in water consumption behavior.

For example, starting next month, DeKalb County in Illinois will no longer hook up water service to newly sold homes that do not have low flow toilets. The Ineffective Plumbing Fixture Replacement Plan was approved by the county commission and signed into law, affecting the sale of all homes built before 1993. With approximately 165,000 homes in the county that were built before 1993, county officials estimate that if all those homes, along with older businesses, switched to low flow toilets, that single county in a single state would save 6 million gallons of water a day.

Along those same lines, the city of Atlanta has offered rebates of up to $100 to homeowners willing to flush their old toilets and replace them with low-flow products. The city has committed $1 million to convince more to make the switch.

The list goes on: Louisville, Ky., offers its water customers rebates on certain water-conserving landscaping materials and high efficiency clothes washers; the Portland Water Bureau provides conservation devices to its retail customers free of charge; and the Water Conservation Office of Boulder, Colo., has had a rebate program since 1997 that has contributed to the installation of hundreds of high-efficiency devices.

Building the Way to Water Efficiency

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