It Rained! – June 10, 2015

Unless your blinds were closed and you never went outside today, the SF Bay Area received “measurable rainfall” today. I say that in quotes because the Governor of California considers that important when it comes to running your sprinklers.

In addition to the existing restrictions that prohibit:
  • Irrigating outdoors during and within 48 hours following measurable rainfall

You see, as a part of his mandate, if you run your sprinklers within 48 hours after any measurable rainfall, that is a violation and you could be reported  for violating “prohibited” watering. Violators are subject to $500 fines or suspension of water service. Severe yes, but a perfect time to report your enemies. Search for “water wasters” for their local water company.

Be sure to set your sprinklers to a 48 hour rain delay if you’re running yours. Quite easy to setup on most irrigation controllers. The picture above is mine. 😉

 

It may have rained  about 1/3″ today but that doesn’t stop me from bringing 150 gallons of recycled water home so I can pump it onto my neighbors lawn.

Recycled water is still chock full of nutrients that the lawn will appreciate. So now just like any other time, this is a great time to water an already soaked ground.

As far as a treatment plant is concerned, there is usually more water coming down the pipe when it rains so any chance you have to pick up some recycled water also means that more will be produced. Sadly, the fill station was pretty empty at 3PM, where as the last few days it was packed with lines down the street and around the corner. I’m sure the drastic temperature change had something to do with it.

Word is out that CCCSD in Martinez has free recycled water available in 300 gallon quantities. Lines are down the street…

Posted by RecycledH2O on Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Speaking of rain, did you set out rain barrels?

Rainbarrel-june2015These are two 32 gallon rain barrels that I picked up from Home Depot two years ago.  They were $15.97/each and hold just enough water to last a few months with hand watering via watering can on my container garden.

I collect the water off a 30′ x 8′ roof. In a 5 minute downpour, I can easily collect about 150 gallons of water (if I had the storage for it).

(30feet x 8feet x 1foot x 7.48 gallons/cubic foot)/(12") = 149.6 gallons/inch

So how did I fare today? Total volume collected ~ 47 gallons. Pretty good for a seemingly unexpected rain storm. Thank you Hurricane Bianca. 🙂

I will write more in a few months about rainwater harvesting. Stay tuned!

1 Comment

  1. Beth Massi

    Aaaaand. I washed my car for the first time in 6 months. Here’s what I did: Back car outside garage into driveway and leave it for an hour or so… at least today… to get it really wet. When you have about 20 min to spare, fill half a bucket with soap & water ( I have a small car) and wash it with a soft cloth. Do rims last, they’re dirty. Rinse cloth and get the soap off the car. (I rinsed into the plants). Then pull back into your garage. I let mine sit because I don’t care about water spots. But now you could dry it off and you can wax and Windex the windows, etc. The point is I just washed my car with a half a gallon of water! 🙂

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