Category: At Home (Page 4 of 6)

If El Niño is coming – Lets Talk Stormwater Management

July 15, 2015 / nick / 1 Comment

You’ve seen the head lines. “Strongest El Niño On Record May Be Brewing In The Pacific“, “El Niño weather event is biggest since 1997, may trigger soaking winter storms“, or “Drought to deluge? El Nino’s impact on California“.

The “best management practice to reduce stormwater runoff” is rainwater harvesting. It is small-scale, but it works.

If this all holds true, then what can we as Californian’s do now to help our chances of saving all that rainwater and putting it back into the water table or the underground “savings accounts” when it does fall?

DIY: How To Build a Garden Hose from Drip Irrigation Parts

July 11, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

Does drip irrigation piping work as a garden hose?

Would it be possible to use 1/2″ poly drip tubing left-over from the drip irrigation installation in the front garden as a garden hose to plumb two impulse irrigation sprinkler heads together?

Yes it is!

Here is how I set that up.

Tips & Tricks to Unload Recycled Water More Efficiently

July 7, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

Facebook.com/RecycledH2O

There has been immense activity surrounding hauling recycled water. The lines at recycled water fill stations are long (with more hose bibs/fill stations coming online often), everywhere you look in the are people are driving around with 300 gallon totes in their trucks and/or trailers and demand for pumps at Harbor Freight is high.

So why not take this as a chance to update you on the changes I’ve made with my recycled water hauling setup and share some of the Tips & Tricks I have learned.

11,500 gallons Recycled Water Hauled

Danville Resident Hauls Recycled Water to Keep Backyard Paradise Thriving During Drought

June 30, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

Hauling water may not be cost effective for you, but considering replacement costs of large gardens it may be worth it.

“I can’t go over the water allotment without them restricting flow. Look at the cost of letting everything die and then replacing it. That’s the driving force. We were bone dry.” – Chris Rossiter

A year ago, Danville resident Chris Rossiter received a $900 water bill. His 6/10ths acre property has a large swimming pool, grass in front and back and his wife is a “plant junkie”. He had used nearly 2,120 gallons per day to keep his backyard paradise thriving.

Plumbing Recycled Water to on-site Irrigation – What you need to know – it is ILLEGAL to do it!

June 25, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

Recycled water has been made freely available and now you’re spending time to drive to a fill station, load it up into your container and take it home. Once there you hook up your pump and hoses and hand water it all over your yard. This all takes a lot of time.

Thinking of a way to be more efficient you might assume that plumbing it to the irrigation system is a genius idea. If only.

Free recycled water may be perfect for use on your lawn, but delivery through your clean drinking water irrigation pipes is not. There are some severe implications with relation to public health and the environment that you need to know first. Endangering public health and the environment could kill these free recycled water programs for everyone. Continue reading

Recycled Water Helps Maintain Curb Appeal

June 17, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

A brown lawn in front of a million dollar house is unappealing when it comes to potential home buyers. It comes with a sense that if the lawn is brown, what else in the house isn’t being cared for. And that kind of sentiment drives down home values.

Recycled Water, with its richness of fertilizer infused water can help you or your neighbors maintain curb appeal, especially in a drought. If you already haul recycled water, now is the time to spread the wealth to your neighbors and help them by watering their front yard while you water yours.

It Rained! – June 10, 2015

June 10, 2015 / nick / 1 Comment

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.

Hauling 275 gallons of Recycled Water with an IBC Tote

June 4, 2015 / Bret / 5 Comments

I bought a house last year that I share with my girlfriend and dog. Like any guy that is mechanical in nature I would much rather be outside working in the yard than being couped up inside playing on the computer. With the California drought, I took an interest in hauling RecycledH2O as I drive a massive truck and have a thirsty lawn and yard. Here is my story.

I drive a Ford F350 which can support over 2600 lbs in the truck bed. I tried the 150 gallon bladder option but would much rather transport more water per trip as my truck can handle the load. I wanted to haul more water, so I found a 275 gallon IBC tote on Craigslist for a little more than $100. It worked perfectly for my needs.

What Can I Do To Lower My Water Usage? – Homeowner edition

June 2, 2015 / nick / 1 Comment

Last night, on the news, nearly every news station had a story on the drought and how you must reduce. But how many of them provided good, quality tips on ways that really work?

June 1st, 2015 marked the date where water reduction mandates would take effect. Homeowners MUST reduce their usage by up to 38% depending on where they live. The complete list is available here for “conservation standard” for your water company – information that is available at the State Water Resource Control Board website.

East Bay Municipal Utilities District – 16% reduction
Contra Costa Water District – 28% reduction

As a homeowner – what steps can you take to lower your usage – starting today to going extreme?

Using Recycled Water as Fertilizer

May 29, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

Any homeowner with a lawn can attest that in order to have a lush green lawn they need to water it and apply fertilizer. Between finding the appropriate fertilizer strength, to buying the tools to properly spread it so the grass doesn’t burn, to applying ridiculous amounts of water to break down the granules so that maybe some day the grass will be lush. Or paying a lawn fertilizer application company like TruGreen to fertilize your lawn for you at a minimum of $30/application.

This is easy – people don’t want their green lawns to go brown.

Did you know that Recycled Water already has some of the same elements in found in fertilizer and when applied to lawns they start working immediately?

Whats the Best Fertilizer For Your Lawn? Recycled Water. Water soluble nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium ready to work now with no extra watering required. Read on for details as to why.