California drought is getting worse...

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by VHestin, Feb 1, 2014.


  1. VHestin

    VHestin Farm Chick

    Just read through this article: California Drought: State Water Project Halts Deliveries for 2014 | TIME.com

    I have been thinking about things to do when water is, if not exactly scarce, but only to be used for the bare necessities.

    1: Keep my hair short. Will require less water(and less shampoo). I like it only just long enough to tie back anyways. It will hopefully get cut in the next week or so.

    2: Use paper dishes as much as possible. In cold weather, you can burn them afterwards for warmth as well.

    3: Make foods that don't require water or use that many dishes. Sandwiches occured to me as a great idea for that, because of the variety you can have with them, the bread and 'stuffins' you can use are limitless. I also frequently make myself a 1pot spaghetti or alfredo dish that usually lasts me for 2 meals.

    4: Limit bathing, or at least the amount of water you use(2 or 3 gallons is all I really need for a thorough cleaning). And keep plenty of handwipes or vinegar available so your hands can be clean without using water.

    5: Well guys have it easier a little when it comes to bathroom usage, but I will say that this is one area you shouldn't skimp on, as in going to the bathroom. A very water efficient toilet or an outhouse or something is acceptable, but when we had the house pipes frozen for 5 days last winter, I'd have to outside and fill up jugs at the spigot for household usage. So I know that it takes 3 gallons of water for each toilet flush, and 20gallons for a large load of laundry(though I can't remember if that was total or per fill cycle). And it was really cold so I'd put off going to the bathroom as much as I could, because mom's disabled and she had trouble filling the jugs up. And I started feeling sick, and I know it's because I wasn't clearing out my body like I should have.

    6: Don't try and make juice from fruits/veggies, you'll lose some liquid, and have all that pulp left over, and a juicer to clean. Eating the fruits/veggies as is gives you just as much nutrition, and you also won't waste energy making juice.

    7: Don't just worry about conserving outside water, but conserve your body's supply too. Don't do sweaty activity if you can avoid it(yeah that can be taken out of context, I kinda walked right into that one didn't I?). Also avoid salty foods and other edibles that can dehydrate you quicker, like alcoholic and caffienated beverages.
     
  2. NWPilgrim

    NWPilgrim Monkey++

    Good ideas.

    Shower and crap as much as possible at work or the gym. Fill up gallon jug of water at work to use for cooking and drinking at home. Assuming that businesses have more water allowance. At home maybe substitute every other shower with a sponge bath. Reuse gray water for garden or flushing. There are some pretty decent toilets that flush well on less than 2 gal per flush or have hi/low flush buttons.
     
  3. VHestin

    VHestin Farm Chick

    I have been thinking of getting a gray water system going. And I have been working on starting to monitor how much water we actually use. Wanna fill up some gallon jugs and dump them in the kitchen sink(with the drain closed) so I know how much to wash dishes(I will factor in another gallon for rinsing). I also know our animals(6 four-leggers and 7 chickens) take about a gallon a day total, with mitigating factors of course. I plan to start making homemade pet food this year, which hopefully means without the dry storebought stuff, they won't need as much drinking water.
     
    Mindgrinder likes this.
  4. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    If u can make your own silver water you can reuse the same water for bathing over and over and over and need no soap.
     
  5. Mountainman

    Mountainman Großes Mitglied Site Supporter+++

    Guess I'm screwed, lol.
     
  6. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Ultra-low flow toilets need only a gallon and a half ( some even less) placing a half gallon jug of water or sand (intact) in the tank will displace that same half gallon of working water and never leaves the tank. Some people use bricks for this purpose.
    Ultra low flow shower heads became required in California while I was there. They work, but everyone hates them. Hard to get your hair clean. People would save much more water, if the shower flow stopped, between rinses. (Perhaps a foot operated shower valve?;))
    I have used a home built grey water system for all outdoor growing things. A series of self-syphoning PVC barrels would feed all trees, and bushes by way of underground hoses. All waste water (minus solids) could go this way, assuming no code issues. But I would not. I would keep it simple rain water fed as a back up water supply. A seperate tank could be used for all waste water.
    Mylar emergency blankets are pretty good at reflecting heat, so attach them on one end to a dowel rod, and hang them at all bright windows. (It will reflect a great deal of the heat back out, and allow vision through. Much like tinted windows. Less heat, means less water use, and less electric cooling cost. I did this in Cal if or I caution, and dropped my electric bill by %60!
     
  7. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    If it's yellow, let it mellow
    If it's brown, flush it down
     
  8. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    also- most people when they brush their teeth they let the water run. Drives me insane. when camping you get a cup put a small amount to water in and wet your brush, clean your brush then rinse your mouth with that small amount of water. Also my Gram used to have two tubs to do dishes. One to wash, one to rinse, it wasn't a lot of water used then she poured the water in the yard. we are a wasteful society and some people will always continue to waste.

    I think you can put power in your hair to absorb the grease.

    California drought: communities at risk of running dry - SFGate
     
    VHestin likes this.
  9. VHestin

    VHestin Farm Chick

    Yeah there will always be water 'hogs'. The scientific premise that the amount of water on Earth doesn't help when A: it's not potable, and B: we drain natural sources and transport it to different locations, thereby affecting the micro-environments of various locales. Me, I don't sort my clothes into different color piles when I do laundry, I throw it all in, and only when I have a full load. I have complained to my mother that she needs to quit doing teeny loads all the time because it's a waste of resources. I am so grateful we actually have a washing machine though, I have done full loads by hand in the bathtub when we didn't have electricity, and it is not fun, plus I don't think it gets it as clean as when the washing machine does it. And it's not helpful to my bad back either.
     
  10. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    The issue is, and has ALWAYS been, those Idiots in SoCal just do NOT seem to remember, "That They LIVE in A DESERT" and there just isn't much water in a DESERT. So, back in the Day, they Stole ALL the Water from NoCal to make living in a DESERT, possible. So, Ok, NOW NoCal is having a Cyclic Drought, and there isn't enough water to feed them, AND those Idiots, that live in a DESERT. Duh.... What part of Living in a DESERT, do these Idiots, NOT GET.... This is where the Original BLONDS, come from.... The SoCal DESERT.....
     
  11. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    We have uber low flush toilets. I don't see how they're all that low water usage considering you have to either hold the handle down through the entire flush, or flush three times to get it all to go away. If they were the pressurized ones they'd be fine, but as they are now I hate those stinking things. If it ever gets to the point where I have to conserve toilet water, I'll just get a composting toilet and call it a day.
     
  12. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Two things. If you can't get a full flush out it, it is likely not adjusted correctly. I've installed them when I worked construction for a general contractor. They work.
    As for the retrofit valve systems and the passive space filling methods, they work poorly, but they work. The toilets were not designed for them.
     
  13. VHestin

    VHestin Farm Chick

    Outhouses: The original composting toilet :)

    My mother has an outhouse candy mold. It's one of her most treasured possessions ;)
     
    stg58 and kellory like this.
  14. Snake_Doctor

    Snake_Doctor Call me Snake...

    salads go good with sandwiches and require little water to make.

    Um, as a guy I must say that I prefer that women bathe, JMHO lol

    Well, we used to carry baby wipes in the field. They can do wonders when one starts to smell. A solar shower is a good way to conserve water and fuel. there are shampoos and body washes etc on the market that require no water. I think they're called no rinse, but I remember they seemed expensive.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 1, 2014
    kellory likes this.
  15. stg58

    stg58 Monkey+++ Founding Member

    Yet in the bay area the debate on draining the main source of fresh water never ends..

    Hetchhetchyprojmap.


    .................................................................
    Hetch Hetchy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    For:
    The battle over Hetch Hetchy Valley continues today between the conservationists, who wish to retain the dam and reservoir, and preservationists who wish to drain the reservoir and return Hetch Hetchy Valley to its former state. Those in favor of dam removal have pointed out that many actions by San Francisco since 1913 have been in violation of the Raker Act, which explicitly stated that power and water from Hetch Hetchy could not be sold to private interests. Hydroelectricity generated from the Hetch Hetchy project is largely sold to Bay Area customers through a private power company, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). San Francisco was able to accomplish this in 1925 by claiming it had run out of funds to extend the Hetch Hetchy transmission line all the way to the city. The terminus of the incomplete line was "conveniently located next to a PG&E substation", which connected to PG&E's private line which in turn bridged the gap to San Francisco.[60] The city justified this as a temporary measure, but no attempt to follow through with completing the municipal grid was ever made.[61] Peter Byrne of SF Weekly has stated that "the plain language of the Raker Act itself and experts who are familiar with the act (and have no stake in city politics) all agree: The city of San Francisco is not in violation of the Raker Act."[62] Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior in the late 1930s, said there was a violation of the Raker Act, but he and the city reached an agreement in 1945.[63]

    Against:
    Those in opposition of dam removal state that demolishing O'Shaughnessy Dam would take away a valuable source of clean, renewable hydroelectric power in the Kirkwood and Moccasin powerhouses; even if measures such as seasonal water diversion into the powerhouses were employed, it would only make up for a fraction of the original power production.[71] The remaining deficit would likely have to be replaced by polluting fossil fuel generation.[49] The removal of the dam would be extremely costly, at least $3–10 billion,[72] and the transport of the demolished material away from the dam site along the narrow, winding Hetch Hetchy Road would be a logistical nightmare with possible environmental impacts. Most importantly, San Francisco would lose its source of high-quality mountain water, and would have to depend on lower quality water from other reservoirs – which would require costly filtration and re-engineering of the aqueduct system – to meet its needs.[73][74]
     
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