Nothing is green without water

By Timothy Allinson, P.E.

Murray Company, Long Beach, Calif.

The subject of water in Southern California has been a raging dispute since as far back as 1910, as portrayed in the popular 1974 Roman Polanski film Chinatown. Los Angeles is not alone in its water problems. As of this writing, there are presently moderate (D1) to exceptional (D4) droughts in 20 of our 50 United States. You can view a drought map at www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html. Right now, the drought conditions in Texas are two levels more extreme than California (D4 vs. D2 respectively). For some reason this subject takes a back seat to many other eco-politico issues such as global warming, energy, fossil fuels, green buildings, and the like. This is probably because drought is seen as something that is self-correcting, sooner or later. But the bottom line is that there is nothing more important in this world than potable water (assuming we will never run out of air).

 

Here in Los Angeles the powers that be, specifically the Department of Water and Power (DWP) is taking proactive measures to try to relieve our worsening drought condition before the taps run dry. Many of our reservoirs are at one-third capacity, and the replenishing Sierra snowmelt is just 61% of normal. Level 1 rationing has already been enforced, which represents only minor inconvenience. But if there is no more rain this year, the rationing will become stricter.

 

The DWP also is enforcing rate hikes, effective next month. Sadly, many people will not bother to conserve water until their wastefulness hits them where it hurts — in the wallet.

 

Most importantly, and the reason for this article, is that the DWP is raising the bar for water conserving plumbing fixtures. Even if you do not live in L.A., this is of importance to you because history has shown that once the City of Los Angeles takes action such as this, it is not long before the rest of the nation follows suit. Los Angeles was the first city to enforce 1.6-gallon water closets.

 

Effective December 1, 2009, the City has introduced legislation that requires high efficiency plumbing fixtures for all new construction and for all replacement fixtures in existing construction as follows:

 

• Water closets will be required to be the 1.28 gpf type. This will significantly reduce the selection of toilets one can specify, at least in the short term.
• Urinals will be limited to 0.5 gpf until October 1, 2010, after which they will be limited to one pint (0.125 gpf).
• Lavatory faucets will be limited to 1.5 gpm. Public lavatory faucets will be limited to either 0.5 gpm or 0.25 gallons per cycle for metering faucets. Pre-rinse spray faucets in commercial kitchens will be limited to 1.6 gpm. (I’m not sure why they created this distinction and must say that I do not agree with it.) All other faucets are limited to 2.2 gpm.
• Showerheads shall not exceed 2.0 gpm. This does not apply to emergency showers and other similar special purpose showerheads.
• Domestic dishwashers will be limited to 5.8 gallons per wash cycle. I have no idea how this compares to the average dishwasher installed in most residences today.

 

Surprisingly, the resolution does not address clothes washers, which vary a great deal in water efficiency. It would seem that this was a missed opportunity for significant potential savings.

 

Even more interesting than the resolution itself was the DWP public hearing where the measure was discussed. The DWP building is not exactly an icon of water efficiency. The building is surrounded by a water feature moat that is three acres in size with eight large water displays. You would think that in the face of drought, the water feature surrounding this building would not be operating.

 

Also of interest at the meeting were some of the people who showed up to make public protest about the rate increases. One woman who spoke had a unique problem that became more and more laughable as it unfolded.

 

It seems this woman purchased two properties in the 1980s, a 2-acre main house and an adjacent 2-acre guesthouse. First, the idea of owning four acres of land in Los Angeles City boggles the mind, but not knowing exactly where it is, perhaps it isn’t as unusual as it sounds. Second, the reference to the second has being a guesthouse is a fairly obvious attempt to disguise the probable fact that it is an investment property, and I would hazard to guess that is because she does not report the rental income on that property.

 

She then explained that shortly after purchase, the local LAFD made her clear the land of brush to prevent fire hazard. Once the land was cleared, all realized that the grade presented a mudslide hazard, so she was forced to plant hundreds of fruit trees and other crop plants for soil retention purposes.

 

This woman was upset because her water usage rate was being increased since the volume of water she used was a great deal more than the standard half-acre home. She was incensed at how unfair it was to compare her home to such a baseline standard. After more talk we all learned that she used water not only to irrigate her crops, but to water her farm animals, including sheep, horses, mules, and a host of others that I couldn’t keep track of. So this woman was running a farm in Los Angeles City, and was angry that her water usage billing rate was being increased accordingly. She was convinced that she should be billed at the same rate as your average single-family residence. Is it me? Or does this reek of complete and utter selfishness? But, she probably justifies it all to herself by driving a hybrid.

 

Timothy Allinson is a senior professional engineer with Murray Co., Mechanical Contractors, in Long Beach, Calif. He holds a BSME from Tufts University and an MBA from New York University. He is a professional engineer licensed in both mechanical and fire protection engineering in various states, and is a leed accredited professional. Allinson is a past-president of aspe, both the New York and Orange County Chapters.