Lynn Hansen: This family is fighting the drought by conserving
We all hope for a solution to our statewide water crisis to come from our legislators, if not from nature. In the meantime, here are a few ideas we have implemented to conserve and reuse water. Our family of two has:
• Replaced our front lawn with California native plants, capped several of the sprinkler heads and made a drip system for the rest.
• Captured cold water from our shower as the water is heating, then use it for toilet flushing.
• Collected rinse water at the kitchen sink in a basin for use on flowers and vegetables in the backyard that we have mulched.
• Rigged a spout system from two roof drains that can swivel to fill 32-gallon bins during our precious rainfalls. Even that 0.2-inch rainfall we just had filled two barrels, which then overflowed while we slept!
Our home in Modesto is in an area still not metered. We pay $55 per month on a base rate. When we get our meters hooked up, we will pay less!
Do other Bee readers have water conservation ideas to add to our list?
Lynn M. Hansen, Modesto
This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Lynn Hansen: This family is fighting the drought by conserving."