Lance Armstrong is Top Residential Water User in Austin. Needs to See New IMAX 3D Movie Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk

Water rationing is nothing new for Austin, Texas residents in the summer. This year is no exception as temperatures have hit over 100 degrees with no rain for weeks. Austin City officials once again imposed mandatory water rationing, but for some Austin residents, the pool and the landscaping come first. According to a report by The Austin American Statesman, Lance Armstrong used the most water for residential properties in the city.

Armstrong's June water bill was $1,633, but Armstrong says he was not aware of how much water his property management company was using at his 3-acre, 14, 475 square-foot house on a hill in Austin. According to city utility records, a total of 222,900 gallons of water was used at Armstrong's residence while Armstrong was in California in June. That is enough water for an athlete like Lance Armstrong to consume 2 gallons of water a day for 313 years. The average Austin residence uses around 8,000 gallons of water per month. We used about 16,000 gallons of water per month at our convenience store/deli/gas station.

Perhaps Lance Armstrong and the other top ten largest famous residential water users in Austin would benefit by chatting with water conservationist and activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and becoming active with Kennedy's Waterkeeper Alliance. Armstrong and others should also see the latest IMAX film titled Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk (3D), narrated by Robert Redford.

The movie painfully illustrates the water shortage crisis facing the planet through facts like the mighty Colorado River no longer reaching the sea because the water is used all along its path for irrigation and human consumption. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. talks about how his father brought him to the Grand Canyon 40 years ago and how it has changed. In the movie, scientists warn that the earth is in a 100 year mega drought that will affect all of us. People who see this film will be motivated to learn how to conserve water at home and in their daily lives. To preview the powerful film Grand Canyon Adventure, River at Risk, click here. To view the behind the scenes making of Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk, click here.

Jerry Jeff Walker was number ten on the list of largest Austin residential water users with 135,400 gallons of water used for his 10,000 square-foot home in Clarksville. Most of the top ten list of largest water users in Austin say the high usage is probably due to water leaks, broken pipes, swimming pools being serviced while homeowners were on vacation, or like Lance Armstrong, they just didn't realize what their management companies were doing.

The top ten largest water users combined used a whopping 1.55 million gallons of water in June at their residential properties. By comparison, Samsung, makers of computer chips that use large amounts of water for manufacturing, used 109.8 million gallons of water in June. Seton Medical Center used 4.5 million gallons of water in June.

The Austin American Statesman report shows pictures of a water sprinkler running at Lance Armstrong's residence at 3 p.m. on a Thursday. According to the report, the city mandatory water rationing bans watering lawns between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. and for odd numbered houses, like Armstrong's house on Girling, you are not to water your lawn on Thursdays. Armstrong says he will fix this problem. Most of the other top ten largest residential Austin water users are high profile wealthy Austinites and all but one has a pool.

Source:

Armstrong tops list of city's largest water users

Austin American Statesman