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Even within the already small residential slice, regulations are weird. When my parents lived in the LA area, they had a large swimming pool and an irrigated la
by Mountain_Skies 5y ago
Even within the already small residential slice, regulations are weird. When my parents lived in the LA area, they had a large swimming pool and an irrigated lawn but were required to have ultra low flush toilets. The amount of water saved by those toilets (which often required multiple flushes to empty the bowl of waste) paled in comparison with the government approved swimming pool and sprinkler systems.
- amluto 5y agoA modern low flush toilet is excellent. They flush considerably better than the old 5 gpf toilets. I’ve seen plumbers advise replacing old 5 gpf toilets with 1.28 gpf toilets to reduce the frequency of clogs. For amusement, you can look up MAPS testing. People flush varying amounts of standardized pretend poop to make sure that toilets work well. (But yes, there was a generation of low flush toilets that were essentially 5 gpf toilets modified to use less water per flush. They worked poorly.) Also, a covered pool uses surprisingly little water.
- seanp2k2 5y agoGood points about toilets, but look on sat maps and see how many people have covered vs uncovered pools.
- tablespoon 5y ago> Even within the already small residential slice, regulations are weird. When my parents lived in the LA area, they had a large swimming pool and an irrigated lawn but were required to have ultra low flush toilets. The amount of water saved by those toilets (which often required multiple flushes to empty the bowl of waste) paled in comparison with the government approved swimming pool and sprinkler systems. How so? Pretty much everyone there has a flush toilet that they use all the time, while I'd imagine pools are much rarer (and also not drained/filled with each use). Toilets also essential items that last decades, so it takes a long time to phase in any updates to their standards (especially compared to lawn-watering regulations). It wouldn't surprise me that going to low flush toilets would save more water (across the whole population, over the long run) than banning pools would.
- SamBam 5y agoAn uncovered pool loses thousands of gallons of water a month due to evaporation. More so in a bit and dry climate.
- diggernet 5y agoAs bad as that sounds, all that water (plus all the water used on residential lawns) is included in the 3-5% of California's water that goes to residential use. You could drain every pool in the state and barely touch the total water consumption. And as DannyBee mentioned above, per-capita water use has already been cut 30% over the last 20 years. You could shut off all residential water supplies entirely, to cut residential use by 100%, and still only reduce total water consumption by 5% at most. Pools aren't the problem. Lawns aren't the problem. Residential use isn't the problem.
- throwaway2037 5y agoIs an uncovered pool still legal in California?
- SamBam 5y agoSure. I was just in San Diego and then in Palm Springs, in the desert. All the pools I saw were uncovered.
- Sharlin 5y agoLawns in general are a truly horrendous idea. Lawns in a literal desert are probably one of the worst ideas that have ever became popular.
- sys_64738 5y agoLow flush toilets are absurd. You need the water to clear your sewer line so keep flushing. Utter stupidity.