Image courtesy of Argonne National Library

Just when you thought that saving water was as easy as turning off the water when brushing your teeth, experts are trying to get another point across to consumers… saving energy can also save water! The electrical power industry is one of the largest users of water in the United States. However, we can’t forget that the opposite is true too… that the delivery and treatment of water also consumes a lot of energy (see Arizona examples below).

This estimate of water use for data centers such as Google is noted by Liew Yien Phin, from Black & Veatch, a global environmental engineering firm. Check out his fascinating blog, The Nexus of Water and Energy, where he discusses the serious implications of this relationship.

Perhaps Water – Use It Wisely should add a new water saving device to our lineup…. Water Saving Device # 113, A Dictionary. Next time you need the definition of a word pull your dictionary off the shelf instead and save a tenth of a teaspoon of water every time. But since you’re already on our page, be sure to learn about our other 100+ ways to conserve water.

Arizona Examples of the Water – Energy Nexus

Water Needed for Energy: Did you know that our local Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station uses 50 to 80 million gallons of water each day to meet its cooling needs? Fortunately, almost all of it is effluent (treated sewage) from several nearby municipalities.

Energy Needed for Water: Have you followed the controversy of the Navajo Generating Station coal-fired plant in northern Arizona? The EPA and conservationists are concerned about environmental impacts from emissions, especially since the plant is located near National Parks, monuments and wilderness areas. Power from the plant is needed to deliver Colorado River water through the Central Arizona Project system that delivers the water to the state’s more populated areas.

You can promote your own contribution to smart water use and management by advertising on WaterUseItWisely.com, the number one water conservation website on the internet. If you’re interested in being a guest blogger, contact us.

For more information, watch her interview on “Your Life A to Z” on local Channel 3:

Desert Willow Trees are native to the Sonoran Desert.

There are hundreds of beautiful desert plants to choose from but one of the biggest challenges of purchasing desert plants (especially since many are Sonoran Desert natives) is that some don’t look great in the pot at the nursery. You really have to have faith and know that the wispy stems in the container will be like the ‘ugly duckling that turns into a swan’ once planted in your landscape.

That’s why we suggest visiting a Xeriscape Demonstration Garden for plant selection ideas. It’s amazing how different plants look when they’re established in the landscape. Best of all, demonstration gardens give you a good idea of how large a plant can get so that you’re sure to put the right plant in the right place. You’ll also find design ideas and great examples of plant combinations.

Brand new xeriscape demonstration garden in Paradise Valley

One of our Water – Use It Wisely Partners, Arizona American Water, is pleased to showcase a new Xeriscape Demonstration Garden in Paradise Valley located at 6229 N. Mockingbird Lane. The Company planned the garden with neighbors, town council members, and Master Gardeners and turned an unused site into a fabulous demonstration for low-water use plants, Xeriscape principals and how to save water and money.

Arizona American Water is one of fifteen Water – Use It Wisely regional partners and many of them sponsor beautiful demonstration gardens. Get inspired. Find a Xeriscape Demonstration Garden near you!

Water – Use It Wisely is being featured on Arizona’s local Channel 3′s Your Life A to Z with some easy and practical ways to save water. Arizona Regional Campaign Water Partner, the City of Mesa, sent their Conservation Specialist, Donna DiFrancesco, to be interviewed by Lisa Haffner on this special segment on outdoor water use.

Check out the video on our YouTube Channel here:

For more information about landscape care and to see our landscape guides, please click here.

Next week’s segment: Take The Home Water Challenge and Find Those Sneaky Leaks. Stay tuned!

That can be expected considering the population increase, and Andrew Nusca and Larry Dignan of “Smart Planet” do a great job of breaking down the survey here. The bottom line is the downturn in water-use has stemmed from more effecient technologies in irrigation systems and power plants. This, of course, is great news but we can make it even better by continuing to do our part as consumers. It may not seem like a low flow shower head or reusing water from the dishes makes a difference, but it does. In fact, it makes a big difference.

The last 30 years are obviously a step in the right direction but water is more scarce now than ever and it’s going to take all of our efforts to continue to make a difference. It’s easy. Start here and spread the word.

To Pool Owners,

It always astounds me that the largest WASTES of water and electricity in the home are ignored. And by largest we really mean the largest – your pool.

By simply covering your pool you reduce pump and chemical usage by 75%, instantly reducing water evaporation to ZERO!! The swimming pools in California, Arizona and Texas lose its full volume of water every year through evaporation. A 20,000 gallon pool will evaporate 18,000 gallons throughout the year. Obviously, 18,000 gallons of water is extremely valuable yet its loss is usually ignored when we speak about droughts and water-saving measures.

Also ignored is the eight kilowatts of energy it takes to power the motors that filter a pool. Eight kilowatts a day is almost 3,000 kilowatts a year. By applying a pool cover, this kind of usage can be cut 70-80% because heat and light can’t enter the pool. That means the pool filter only needs to run for two hours a day instead of eight.

Pools are actually only used an average of one to two percent of all the hours in a year which means the potential for conservation is ENORMOUS! In Los Angeles alone, 2.7 billion gallons of water evaporate every year from pools and over a billion kilowatts are used for electricity. All these savings can be reached with a lightweight cover that can be removed in 3-4 minutes for swimming.

This is an important ecological matter that needs to be addressed. Everyone who is being asked to reduce their water usage by 15-20% could easily achieve that by simply covering your pool with a UV protected cover. Spread the word, and cover your pool!

Sincerely,

Conservation Covers

www.conservationcovers.com

Having this many jeans already seems a bit excessive. But when you factor in that it takes 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to make just one pair of jeans, this suddenly seems to go far beyond excess. It’s unreasonable to suggest that we no longer buy jeans or condemn those that do. After all, jeans are as much a part of America as apple pie and angry political debates.

But armed with this statistic it does seem that we should find a use for the jeans we all have soaking up space in our closets. If we’re going to use the water to grow the cotton to make the jeans, let’s put our old jeans back to use.

So in addition to asking you to follow our more traditional water saving tips we’d also like to ask that you donate your old jeans. Make them useful again by donating them to your local Goodwill and we’ll dramatically reduce our water consumption. Not only will our environment thank you but so will the person you just helped get a new pair of jeans.

In the “highly romantic,” and mostly underfunded, business of water conservation, we typically get one or two shots at our target markets with our messages.  All while competing in that mass shooting gallery of advertising.  So not only do we have to be great shots, we have to be smart.  That’s where environmental triggers come in.

Brothers Dan & Chip Heath, educators and “idea collectors,” wrote an incredible book on messaging called, “Made to Stick.”  This is an absolute must read for anyone in the business of persuasion – and let’s face it, we’re all in that business in one way or another.  The Heaths are also regular contributors to Fast Company magazine where I came across their article about environmental triggers.

It’s gratifying to note that, several years prior to their book, article and blog, the Water – Use It Wisely campaign was built solely on environmental triggers.  The creative came from an intuitive solution to how to make our message resonate in the every day habits of our water-using customers.  That means everyone.

The whole concept is based around unexpected, but highly effective water-saving devices. Like a toothbrush, for instance. It is a physical prompt that reminds you to turn off the water while you brush your teeth (a razor does the same for shaving). Another example is water-saving device #15, a broom. It begs the question, “How can a broom save me water?”  The answer, of course, is to use a broom instead of a hose to clean your driveway or sidewalk and save at least 80 gallons every time. We make your broom an environmental trigger; a tangible extension of our message that triggers conscious actions toward saving water every time you use it.

The campaign is all about presenting these “water-saving devices,” each with it’s own number to emphasize the main campaign theme: “There are a number of ways to save water, and they all start with you.” You, of course, being water-saving device #1.

In our on-going effort to give voice to water – YOUR voice, and to make your life easier in finding and activating relevant information on ways to produce effective messaging, we highly recommend the Made to Stick blog.

If you’re using triggers in your messaging, or you have seen a great example of them in another campaign, please share it with the water world by commenting below.