California periodically goes through water crises, like the one it finds itself in now, but the question is whether they can be avoided.
Here, Industry may play a key role. NRDC in a new report finds that industry can cut its water use in half, saving as much water as San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego consume.
While consumers may try the 5-minute shower and living with dying lawns, industrial facilities use millions of gallons a day. Oil refining looks like it has the biggest pipe, though Chevron has apparently made strides by using 8 million gallons of wastewater a day (about 75-80% of its daily needs).
NRDC suggests other fixes like using smart irrigation for landscaping (saving 1 million acre feet of water) or low-flow toilets (savings 19,000 gallons of water a year per toilet).
None of this is rocket science, but it makes sense, not only for water conservation, but for the bottom line. After all, water costs.
August 19th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
The government is predicting water shortages over the next 5 years for 46 states. Which will most likely lead to a price increase. Low-flow toilets are a great way to combat these rising prices. Dual flush toilets which save about 5,000 gallons of water per year are already mandatory in Israel and Australia. It is just a matter of time before the US adopts this product.