Four Steps to Cut Water Waste in Arizona

The New York Times just published a story by Greenwire about the plummeting water levels at Lake Mead, which is a major water supplier for the Southwestern states. The story succeeds in pointing out the problem, but is a miserable failure in suggesting solutions.

Here in Arizona, I see water being wasted every single day, no matter where I go. Here are a few places our elected officials could attack to help the situation.

Toilets

Toilets are the most flagrant, flat-out stupid water-wasting devices. There's no excuse for a new building to have conventional toilets and urinals. There are too many options for composting toilets, flushless urinals and selectable-flush toilets (like those in Australia and New Zealand) for anyone to even consider going old-school. And older buildings need to phase them out, too, whether through fines for keeping them or tax incentives to replace them.

The fact that this obvious step hasn't been taken makes me wonder who's making tons of money of conventional toilets and urinals - and what they have to lose from water-saving technology.

Golf Courses

Maricopa County is a dry, parched area that has been under draught conditions for years. Yet it has more than 150 golf courses and counting. Is there a worse example of water waste than a golf course? Obviously, it's not possible to legislate them out of existence. But it is possible to tightly regulate how much water each golf course is allotted.

I don't see elected officials doing much about this option - too many politicians play golf.

Car Washes

Does everyone's car need to gleam? No. I can't imagine how much water gets wasted in blasting dust, dirt and grit off of cars. And really, what do we get from it? Not a whole lot aside from a bunch of clean cars and some very low-paying car wash jobs.

If water rationing starts, car washes need to be at the top of the list.

Glasses at Restaurants

Every glass that you use at a restaurant has to get washed. That includes a glass used for plain ol' water. Restaurants need to encourage people to bring their reusable water bottles. The easiest incentive is to give them a discount on their drinks, especially iced tea and soft drinks. The beverage markups are so high that this is a no-brainer and a public relations coup in the making.

Home Swimming Pools
Pools are great for cooling off or getting some exercise. But they're also water-greedy beasts that require maintenance. Master-planned communities need to quit building pools in backyards and instead just build public pools. There would be so many good effects - fewer cleaning chemicals, less water, more people interacting socially ... I'd even bet on a reduction of child drownings and near-drownings.