During my daily troll through the interwebs yesterday, I came across an interesting article about the flip-side of the coin in terms of water conservation. It describes the catch-22 situation that some municipalities are facing as they spread the word about water conservation.

The article is here: The High Cost of Using Less Water

It basically talks about how water conservation is costing the cities in terms of decreased revenue. As we install our low-flow toilets and stop watering our lawns, our consumption goes down. This is great for the environment, but now the cities don’t have as much money to do the necessary repairs on our water systems, and therefore it becomes more expensive. This big question is whether the cost of this will be passed onto the consumer. If it is, would it deter others from making those positive water conservation changes?

“Asked about declining water consumption, he told the Star:
“Conservation is killing us.”
Realizing what he’d just said, Curtis smiled broadly and quickly added that there were, of course, a thousand reasons to conserve.
But one thing is certain: Conservation is putting cash-strapped municipalities in a bit of a pickle.”

Here are some great links I found on water conservation tips. They’re both American sites, but the majority of the rules apply just as well to Canada.

http://www.monolake.org/socalwater/wctips.htm
http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/

I am happy to report that I’m doing pretty well and adhere to most of these tips. In the summer, particularly in August when it tends to get really dry in our area and we get drought warnings I go further. I already use the old saying “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down!” at those times (my granny grew up in California, apparently this is common?) and I think I may try capturing the excess shower water in buckets in the future.

So, what are your favourite ways to conserve water, and do you have any that you’d like to share?