Home & Garden
Save Water, Shower With a Friend
Handy ways to save water for Healdsburgers include watering in the dark and washing your car with a bucket, not a hose.
As noted earlier, the June 3 Healdsburg City Council meeting was rife with controversial issues – marijuana cultivation, Foss Creek Circle, and bicyclist safety.
Add to those the request that residents voluntarily cut their water usage by 20% over the coming summer.
In a quick and essentially non-debated move, the Council approved the City manager to “take the necessary steps to implement Stage 1, voluntary water conservation measures and practices.” These voluntary conservation measures are expected to go into effect immediately.
For the Healdsburg resident, a couple steps stand out as things we should know about right way to save water.
Along with the sensible steps of watering gardens, lawns, etc. late in the day or in early morning hours, to reduce evaporation and hence water loss, residents are asked to irrigate on alternate days, based on their street address.
For addresses ending in an even number (24680), Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are your watering days.
For addresses ending in odd numbers (1359), Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays are your days.
The rules request that no outdoor irrigation takes place on Mondays.
The Press Democrat has a handy list of “Easy Ways to Save Water” in today’s paper (which does not appear with the corresponding article online), including the following:
- Save 5 gallons: Cut two minutes off a shower.
- Save 20 gallons: Water before 6 a.m. or after 8 p.m.
- Save 25 gallons: Mulch your plants
- Save 30 gallons: Use a pool cover.
According to the resolution, complete Stage 1 efforts include a request for all water customers to do the following:
• Apply outdoor irrigation water only during the evening and early morning hours to reduce evaporation losses (8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.).
• Even addresses can irrigate outdoors Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
• Odd addresses can irrigate outdoors Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
• No outdoor irrigation on Mondays.
• Inspect all irrigation systems, repair leaks, and adjust spray heads to provide optimum coverage and eliminate avoidable over-spray.
• For irrigation valves controlling water applied to lawns, vary the minutes of run-time consistent with fluctuations in weather. Reduce minutes of run-time for each irrigation cycle if water begins to run off to gutters and ditches before the irrigation cycle is completed.
• Replace inefficient plumbing fixtures and appliances with water efficient models.
• Utilize City information regarding using water efficiently, reading water meters, repairing ordinary leaks, and water efficient landscape.
• Prohibit nonessential uses of water, including the following:
• Noncommercial washing of privately owned motor vehicles, trailers and boats except from a bucket and except that a hose equipped with a shut-off nozzle may be used to rinse a vehicle;
• Any use of water from a fire hydrant, except for fighting fires, line flushing required by regulatory agencies or essential construction needs.
