conserving water - suggestions?

[Cairycat]

Hello, I live in one of the communities affected by the floods here in the midwest. While the damage to houses was much less severe than in other places, we are having problems with our water treatment plant. Here is what the city is officially telling citizens:

"Please limit use of any water that “goes down the drain”. For example, this means do not do laundry, do not run the dishwasher, do not run bath water, and take extremely short showers to name a few ways people can cut down on their water usage.

A great deal of strategy and common sense helped the City avoid catastrophe at the initial stages of this flood event due to the efforts of the volunteers. Now it is critical that the entire community assist with this continued effort to prevent further catastrophe. The City’s sewage treatment plant is running at less than full capacity and it is over stressed with the floodwaters. If more lift stages fail, homes in other parts of the City that were not directly affected by the flood will experience sewage back up in their basements."

This is hard for my family, with two teenagers and a preteen, a husband that has to have clean clothes for work, etc. Since the river crested, I have done one load of laundry in my front-loader, gone over with the kids about get wet-shut off water-lather-rinse quickly showering, and the old "if it's yellow ..." rhyme about flushing. I don't have a dishwasher; usually I wash in a dishpan, and rinse in running water, so I know I can rinse in a second dishpan. We've also loaded up on paper plates and cups.

So I would like to pick your brains about other ways to use less water. My guess is this situation will last a week or more. Only four of eleven lift stations are operational now, and repairs, if needed, on the other seven, normally would be done in Cedar Rapids, which, if you've seen the pictures, is looking like an Iowa version of Katrina.

Thanks for any and all help.

[WolverineDG]

1. Not sure if this falls in the "conserving water" category

but during hurricane season, when we were under a hurricane warning, my mom would fill the bathtub with water so we could flush the toilet. Maybe "reserving" water you've already used so you can do this would help? :shrug:

dg

[hippywife]

2. It's a small thing

that people usually don't think about but turn off the water while brushing your teeth. So many people just leave it running the whole time. I just rinse my brush really quick before and after brushing and turn the water off while I'm brushing. A lot of water can go down the drain in two minutes.

Sorry you find yourself in such a situation. I hope it resolves itself quickly for all of you. :hug:

[Warpy]

3. You're already doing good stuff

Consider keeping a bucket next to the toilet and discarding the wash and rinse water into it for flushing. No, don't put it into the tank, just dump it down the pan when it's time.

The same goes for watering the specimen plants you don't want to kick the bucket, the ones that don't get rained on indoors.

Grey water, the stuff left over from washing, can safely be used for all sorts of things.

[kestrel91316]

4. It sounds like the sewage treatment plant capacity is the issue,

and NOT the water supply. So here's what I would do if it were me:

Only let water go down the drain that HAS to (toilets). If there is ANY way to "divert" other water or delay its discharge into the sewer, I would do it. Your dishpans of sink water especially can be dumped outside to soak into the ground (I am thinking this MIGHT be a problem, lol, if the ground is already completely saturated). Definitely don't flush toilets unless they have solid waste or are full of TP (go easy on the TP). Load kids up into the bathtub in sequence, cleanest to dirtiest, then haul the tub water out to the yard in buckets.

This is temporary emergency stuff I am recommending. Do what you can. It won't last forever, and you can reminisce about it afterwards.....

[Warpy]

7. Actually, it's both. Only one water facility is fully functioning

and that's why I suggested grey water be used to flush the toilets.

[Wednesdays]

5. Sponge baths & "Hobo showers"

I put myself through college working as a home health aide, and most of my patients received sponge baths. It wasn't until later that it occurred to me that would be a great way to save on both water and energy.

Just grab a washcloth, soap, and a basin full of moderately hot water, and you're good to go. Start with the face and hair, and then work your way down. Then, replace the water with rinse water, and repeat. At most, you'll use 4 gallons of water.

Theoretically, you could do this every day, forever. Naturally, a lot of people will need a regular bath or shower after a while, but if that happens go ahead and shower as usual, and then go back to the sponge baths until you feel the need to shower again.

And then there's the "hobo shower" that I'm sure a lot of outdoors-type folks know about. :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJf47KnnLSM

[sandnsea]

6. Don't use the faucet

If you put the water into milk jugs or covered pots, you'll automatically cut back. If you've ever camped, particularly without an RV, then just do that for a week.