Here we go again. Another season of ‘watering restrictions’ per se.
Regional District of Nanaimo chair Bill Veenhoff thanks residents for doing their part to conserve water. He then goes on to allow the irresponsible permitting of “washing of vehicles and outdoor surfaces….” The City of Parksville is offering a rebate of $50 to residents who purchase a rain barrel to conserve water for watering plants, shrubs etc. during high water restrictions. Something is dreadfully wrong with this picture.
A light duty power washer recommended for cleaning siding, decks and most residential jobs is one with 1,800 to 2,200 psi, which uses two gallons of water per minute. One hour of use equates to 120 gallons of water. Gone forever.
A medium duty power washer recommended for cleaning most residential jobs and driveways is one with 2,300 to 2,500 psi, which uses 2.2 to 2.3 gallons of water per minute. Using the 2.2 gpm that equates to 132 gallons per hour. If you consider that eight of my neighbours spent about three hours each power washing their driveways, that equates to 396 gallons times eight, or 3,168 gallons of water in three hours. If 1,000 households did that it is 396,000 gallons of water gone forever.
We are encouraged to buy low -low toilets, save bath water until the water is hot, brush our teeth without running tap water. What for? We have community leaders telling us to waste water on a regular basis. Time to get serious about water conservation. Once it is gone it is gone forever.
Don SnellParksville
