Are you concerned about the amount of water you use in the maintenance and upkeep of your landscape? This article will provide you with ways to conserve water with the right Scottsdale landscaper. Whether you’re looking to save water for environmental purposes or save money on utilities, the following information will be beneficial to you and will help you avoid wasting your resources.


Minimizing your water consumption is a win-win situation all around. You save money on your water bill and your landscape gets the water it needs without waste. Water conservation is the most cost-effective and environmentally sound way to reduce our demand for water and there are a number of ways to save water when it comes to Scottsdale landscaping.


Did you know…?


Over half of residential water use goes into our landscapes, which makes watering efficiently one of the best and easiest ways to save water. Professional landscape design and proper planning can help reduce water use by 60 percent, increase your home’s value by as much as 25 percent, decrease the costs associated with landscape maintenance and help to keep your landscape plants healthy and beautiful throughout the year.


Developing a comprehensive landscape plan for your property just makes sense. A carefully thought out plan will enable you to create a beautiful outdoor landscape that enhances existing features and adds new ones that can help you save water, money and energy.


A professional Scottsdale landscaper can help you develop and architectural quality plan for your water-saving landscape. They start with a simple base map of your property lines and then expand it into a detailed plan that includes existing structures and sun/rain exposure. They’ll look for things like spigot and downspout locations, trees, slopes, existing sprinkler systems and more.


In addition to conserving water, you can also save on energy costs. Strategically placed trees and shrubs can help you save up to 25 percent on yearly heating and cooling costs. During the winter, trees and shrubs shield your home from cold winds, reducing heat loss. In summer, shade trees can reduce the need for cooling.


Xeriscaping is a popular Scottsdale landscaping method used to promote water conservation in landscaped areas. Converting your existing landscape to a xeriscape is not complicated – it just requires a little expertise on regional climates and few improvements to the property.


A professional Scottsdale landscaper can provide direction and guidance by mapping your water and energy conservation strategies and base them on your regional and micro climates. This is crucial, as plant selection and locations will depend on where you live and how they’ll flourish while saving water. They will also be able to help you reduce the amount of turf areas, which usually requires a lot of supplemental watering.


Other things to consider in a xeriscape are improvements in the soil to absorb water and encourage deeper roots, irrigation techniques that water plants in the most efficient locations, using mulch to keep roots cool and minimize evaporation and maintaining landscape through fertilizing, trimming and controlling pests.

If you’re like the many other consumers not using drinking water filters, you’re in bad company, and here’s why. Go down the isle at just about any grocery store in America that carries beverages, and the most popular item that you will find on the shelf is water. Why is that? One, it sells like crazy, and two, those who don’t use drinking water filters have lousy tasting water. However, there should be another reason to consider using a water filter, your health!



Many people do not know what is in their tap water, and there in lies the shock. A few of the ingredients in your tap water include bacteria, viruses, uranium, radium, nitrate, arsenic, chromium and fluoride. One of the most prominent ingredients in tap water is dissolved toilet tissue. Doesn’t sound very appetizing does it?



Where does this contamination come from? Some of it actually comes from natural sources such as rock formations that find their way into our water supply. Some chemicals such as chlorine are actually placed into our water supply on purpose to kill off harmful bacteria. The problem is, chlorine can be very harmful to the human body and has been linked to certain cancers. This is why many people have turned to using a drinking water filter.



Other sources of water contamination include not getting rid of everyday items in your house such as cleaning solvents, paint, and motor oil in a proper manner. Then you have problem of industrial waste. Seems like everyday you read about some kind of accidental leakage or a large company using illegal methods to get rid of its waste. Pesticides are also another item that has found its way into our water supply.



Our local water treatment plants do try to do a good job in making sure our water is safe, but it’s next to impossible to get rid of all the contaminants. We are also faced with a dwindling supply of fresh pure water, so many cities have turned to using reclaimed water. Reclaimed water includes the waste that is flushed down your toilet, and then is chemically treated and used in our drinking water supply. You should consider using a drinking water filter if you live in an area where reclaimed water is being used.



Many people would like to use a drinking water filter, but don’t know where to start. There are many types and brands available. They most expensive is not always best. Same goes for the cheapest. Some drinking water filters are cheap and do a fair job, but they need replacement cartridges often, which can end up being more expensive in the long run than higher priced drinking water filters.



Some higher priced filters do a poor job but carry a high price tag just to make a profit for the promoter. Doing a little research when choosing a drinking water filter will not only improve your health, but will save you money in the longer term.



 

Cleaning
When cleaning your house you should always think before you start. By filling the dishwasher all the way before you run it, you’ll save a lot of water. By washing vegetables in a bowl and scrubbing with a vegetable brush you won’t have to run the water as much.

Hygiene
A lot of people aren’t so willing to change their personal hygiene routine as easily as their dishwashing routine, but by adjusting a few things you can save a lot of water! Try wetting your toothbrush before you brush and not leave the water running unnecessarily, or only filling the bath half way.

Gardening
Adding compost to your garden soil will make it more water absorbent, and will save lots of water. Try using left over water from making tea or boiling an egg to water your garden. You can even reuse dishwasher water on non-edible plants as long as you check with your local municipality department first.

Outside the Home
Check anywhere around your home where water might be leaking. Are your hose connections dripping water? If so, they are cheap and easy to replace. You should also check to see if you have any sprinklers wasting water by spraying on the driveway or sidewalk.

Recreational Savings
You can save water outside by replace your pool filter with one that uses less water and eliminate toys that needlessly spray water. You should also avoid water activities that excessively waste water.

Laundry
Only do full loads of laundry, or if your washer allows, lower the water height with smaller loads. In the summer, consider hand-washing some t-shirts or sheets and hang-dry to very conservative with your energy.

Food and Drinks
Don’t thaw meat or other frozen products with running water, instead put them in the fridge to defrost. Chill water in the fridge rather than running the faucet or using ice cubes. Try switching to plastic ice cubes instead of ice trays; they’re both water conscious and attractive. If you have a lot of dishes to wash you could put them all a sink of soapy water and let it sit for a while before washing. Then, you save water by avoiding unnecessary scrubbing.

Water, one of the basic requirements for survival is facing a crisis. Unfortunately, one out of six people lack access to safe drinking water, while more than two, out of six lack adequate sanitation.

Lack of strong institutions and agreements, changes within a basin, often give way to Trans boundary tensions finally leading to water scarcity. Water problems at the Aral Sea, Parana La Plata, the Jordan and the Danube further bring home the point. Due to the lack of regional collaboration, major water projects get disrupted half way, resulting in regional instability.

Proper water management is a very effective way to tackle water shortage. Awareness and protection of freshwater resources is the best way to fix the water shortage issue. To that aim, several measures should be taken:

The right to water: Kofi Annan UNO Secretary General clearly pointed out:” Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and therefore a basic human right”. Therefore the right to safe drinking water should be guaranteed to one and all.

Know-how at the local level at the local level should be developed: Unfortunately, most of the people tend to waste water believing that the access to water is an obvious and natural thing. It is only when they face severe water shortage do they realize its importance. Therefore the level of awareness about the importance and utility of water should be increased at the local level. Urbanization and lifestyle are also responsible behind water scarcity.

Improved and greater investment in water related projects: A large number of water projects still do not receive the necessary political priority and funding they deserve. A strong political will and improved financing are required to solve the severe water problem.

Monitoring water resources: It is important to develop a governing authority that will monitor and check the use of water. The authority will formulate water policies and will design, frame, investigate, operate and maintain water resources. The authority should spread the knowledge of availability of water among the general public.
Improving transboundary relation: Resolution of conflicts regional economic development and cultural preservation can all be strengthened by states cooperating of water. Instead of creating an issue water problem should be handled with cooperation and peace, initiatives should be taken to avoid crises.

Decentralisation of the responsibility for water; It is important to have collective responsibility in order to access and monitor water resources.

Global Water has been working on raising the awareness of the water challenges. Realizing that temporary handouts during emergency crises is not a handy solution to the long-term regional health and other famine-related problems Global Water promises to provide a permanent source of fresh clean water to all. Equipped with bring state-of-the-art water well drilling equipment Global Water is bringing clean and safe drinking water to every household. For more information, please visit Global Water at www(dot)globalwater(dot)org

As we all know from school the earth’s water is constantly in movement, the water cycle or hydrologic cycle, describes the movement of water above, below, and under the earths surface. As the name ‘water cycle’ implies there is no beginning or end to this process and while water may change state from liquid, to vapour, to ice depending on the part of the water cycle that you are looking at, the amount of water on Earth remains constant over time. Unfortunately there are now more and more people on the planet to share this limited resource with, and the only way to deal with the growing shortage is to conserve as much water as possible by using what we have in the most responsible way.

Even when water seems abundant it’s important that we all do our bit to conserve as much as possible, aside from the obvious benefits of conserving water in an effort to reduce costs to you or your business, the widely publicised environmental concerns should also give us all a real incentive to conserve water. Many of the worlds people face serious water shortages, the BBC claim that “People in rich countries use 10 times more water than those in poor ones.” and that “water-borne diseases already kill one child every eight seconds” [1]

Conserving Tap Water

The average running tap uses approximately 10 litres of water every minute, and dripping taps can use up to 90 litres of water per week.

Top tips to conserve tap water:

» Mend any dripping taps with appropriate washers and ball-valves

» Don’t waste clean water on plants, put a bowl in your sink and use water from your washing up or cooled cooking water instead

» Don’t run tap water until it’s cold, use your fridge to chill water or purchase a specialist undersink chiller or water cooler

» Put a bowl in your sink or use the plug to avoid cleaning clothes etc under a running tap

» Don’t overfill your kettle; boiling unnecessary amounts of water is wasteful and will increase your bills

Conserving Water in the Bathroom

Flushing a toilet uses up to 10 litres of water every time and accounts for a third of the water used in the home. According to Cambridge Water “A standard shower uses 35 litres every 5 minutes… …An average depth bath uses 80 litres… and “A ‘Power Shower’ uses 80 litres” [2]

Top tips to conserve water in the Bathroom:

» Have a shower rather than a bath but don’t spend too long under the shower

» Don’t run water continuously when cleaning your teeth perhaps make use of a glass or mug

» Fit a Hippo in your cistern. A Hippo is a small plastic bag which retains water in the bag every time that you flush. For more information contact you local water authority (many offer these devices for free)

» Use a waste basket instead of your toilet to dispose of those small bits of rubbish that are often created in the bathroom

Conserving Water when using your Washing Machine

Washing machines use a massive amount of water, on each cycle this can amount to as much as 70 to 120 Litres of water at a time. A full load uses less water than 2 half loads.

Top tips to conserve water when using your Washing Machine:

» Make sure that you machine has a full load before turning it on, if you have to use your machine half full use the half load button

» When buying a new machine make sure it is efficient as possible

Conserving Water when using your Dishwasher

A Dishwasher uses up to 60 litres of water each time that it is used.

Top tips to conserve water when using your Dishwasher:

» Make sure that your machine is fully loaded prior to use

» Avoid pre-rinsing dishes and cutlery under a flowing tap, this is almost always unnecessary

Conserving Water with proper Maintenance

Maintaining your home or business premises can save you money and help conserve water.

Top tips to conserve water by maintaining your Home or Business Premises:

» Maintain your plumbing systems and fix all leaks as soon as possible

» Insulate venerable pipes to avoid them freezing and bursting in the cold weather

» Make sure you know where your stop tap is so that you can isolate any leaks as soon as possible

Conserving Water in the Garden

As a nation of garden lovers it’s important that we are all careful when tending our gardens in order to conserve as much of the mains water supply as possible.

Top tips to conserve water in the Garden:

» Install a water butt or similar to make use of all of that rain water that lands on your roof. Rainwater is a great natural resource which should be used where possible to fulfill some of the more basic requirements in the garden. Installing a water butt is the best way to harness this natural asset, and it’s a fact that rainwater is better for garden plants than tap water.

» Use waste kitchen water wherever possible to water your plants

» Water your garden during the evening or late afternoon when it’s cooler to help reduce evaporation

» Don’t use a garden sprinkler these devises are wasteful and unnecessary

» Reduce the size of your lawn and buy plants that require less moisture

» Water your lawn once a week only; this will help to preserve your water, it’s also better for your lawn as over watering can encourage roots to seek the surface

» Mulch your garden with tree bark, coconut compost etc to prevent evaporation

Conserving Water by limiting Hosepipe use

There’s a reason why UK homes have faced hosepipe bans in the past, hosepipes are an incredibly wasteful way of consuming water.

Top tips to limit Hosepipe use:

» Clean paths and driveways with a brush not a hose

» Clean your vehicles with a bucket and sponge rather than using a hose, or limit the hose to the removal of foam after the vehicle has been cleaned

» When only a hose will do you can avoid wasting water by fitting a shutoff valve on your hosepipe

» Fit a Water Butt (see above) as an alternative to watering your garden with a hosepipe

Conserving Water at Work

As well as ensuring that you follow some of the above measures most notably those that relate to maintenance, taps, hosepipes and toilet facilities businesses can also conduct audits and observe a few additional practices that will help them to conserve water.

Top tips to conserve water at Work:

» One of the best ways for a business to reduce the amount of waste that it produces is to conduct a waste audit; this audit will cover other factors as well as water wastage. For more information on how to conduct a waste audit visit the Business Link website or do a search on “waste audit” in Google

» The production of paper uses an incredible amount of water try to reduce your paper use by as much as possible

» Eliminate automatic flushing devices in toilet areas and replace with water efficient devices

» Consult a plumber for advice regarding the potential for pressure reducers and flow restrictors to reduce the use of water

» When replacing old equipment ensure that the new models use water efficiently

» Investigate ways in which your business can reuse cooling water for other purposes

» Only clean windows as required not on a periodic basis

» Involve your staff by offering awards and incentives and put a reporting procedure in place

Resources:

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2943946.stm

2. http://www.cambridge-water.co.uk/about_you/save_home.asp