Texas Heat!

[wroughtn_harv]

Harvey, when that day rolls around, we may have green carpet for lawns and artificial shrubs/flowers. Easily the #1 use of water is landscape watering. Sanitary sewers account for only a small amount of the total use. I think we may still use water for sanitary purposes in 20 years, but it will probably all be treated/purified and returned directly to our water supply.

I don't see artificial lawns but I do see more appropriate choices in plants and designs for the locale.

If you live where there is sewer service you will notice on your bill that for every gallon of water you use there is another charge for that gallon being processed as sewage. That's why all the big water using homes in Dallas have two water meters. One is charged the sewer rate and the other is not because it is dedicated for landscape maintenance.

 

[RobertN]

That does occur to a point. In my area, some of the golf courses uses reclaimed water. Some newer neighborhoods do too. You can tell, the irrigation pipe, valves, and sprinkler heads are purple.

My wife is a Landscape Designer. She has taken classes for reclaimed water in order to work in some of those neighborhoods.

And yes, in the arid West, landscape watering is a HUGE water hog.

Harvey, when that day rolls around, we may have green carpet for lawns and artificial shrubs/flowers. Easily the #1 use of water is landscape watering. Sanitary sewers account for only a small amount of the total use. I think we may still use water for sanitary purposes in 20 years, but it will probably all be treated/purified and returned directly to our water supply.

 

[pacerron]

..........................and I turned the water hose on and tossed it in the pond. Don't tell me water company.
hugs, Brandi

Hope you have a good anti-siphon device at your hose bib.
Do you have fish in the pond..

 

[RobertN]

I just saw this on CNN website. Plane appears similar to the MARS that Brandi posted, although smaller, 2-prop. Apparently operating on fires in Texas.

Tanker refills @ Lake O' the Pines - CNN iReport
http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N262NR.html

 

[jonyyuma]

Hope you have a good anti-siphon device at your hose bib.
Do you have fish in the pond..

I thought that those anti-siphon devices were REQUIRED? If not,, anyone who has a outside hose to their water supply really needs to buy one and install it. It just screws on the outlet and tightens with a set crew or two? Insurance againest syphoning back into drinking water supply and contamination of such?

 

[jinman]

I just saw this on CNN website. Plane appears similar to the MARS that Brandi posted, although smaller, 2-prop. Apparently operating on fires in Texas.

Tanker refills @ Lake O' the Pines - CNN iReport
Aircraft N262NR, Canadair CL215 1A10 C/N 1081

Wow! That adds a whole new meaning to a "touch-n-go" landing. Talk about a quick turnaround. . .

 

[jonyyuma]

Robert, thanks for posting the shot of the water tanker flying onto the lake? My son and I were discussing the filling of a DC-10 tanker water supply? It hauls 12,000 gallons? That is nearly a full load to the plane. I wonder just how long it sits to be pumped full? Plus it has 3 engines to feed , so they like jet fuel. I still remember the last tanker crashes,several years ago, when the c-130 just folded the wings on a run and went down quick?

 

[two_bit_score]

Hope you have a good anti-siphon device at your hose bib.
Do you have fish in the pond..

Good point. There have been cases where entire water supply sources were contaminated with pesticides, etc from not having anti siphon valves.

I bet she does, though.

 

[Bird]

2 Weeks ago they talked about this on the news! Said with the new fake turf, allot of people are replacing grass with the new stuff. They interviewed a wealthy couple some where in the mid cities I think it was and showed the crew installing the "grass". The fake grass looked pretty darn good in their yard. Technology has come along way from astro-turf, but the installer said it only last 7-10 years and it isn't cheap. I'll go native grass and "more" weeds if comes to that

Dennis, I heard many years ago that when Texas A&M (Aggies) first received astro-turf for their football field that they called the manufacturer with a question about installation. They were told to install it with the green side up.

 

[RobertN]

I posted links to the DC-10 tanker earlier. The link said it only takes 8 minutes to fill; they use some big pumps(It's not unheard of for hydrants to flow way over 1000gpm, and most fire engines can pump 750-1250gpm easy).

Here's the links again

10 Tanker Air Carrier
Tanker 910 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert, thanks for posting the shot of the water tanker flying onto the lake? My son and I were discussing the filling of a DC-10 tanker water supply? It hauls 12,000 gallons? That is nearly a full load to the plane. I wonder just how long it sits to be pumped full? Plus it has 3 engines to feed , so they like jet fuel. I still remember the last tanker crashes,several years ago, when the c-130 just folded the wings on a run and went down quick?

 

[jonyyuma]

Okay Robert, this time I could download it. Interesting aircraft, I haven't seen one with an external tank, I thought it might be an internal baldder arrangement. Yes 1000gal a minute and higher on new fire equipment. I am reserve on our VFD, and go to look at new purchases in the areas. We still are VFD only and have an "8" fire rating with the use of mobile tankers and drop tanks. Thank God, we only had about 30 days with little rain here..

 

[pacerron]

Good point. There have been cases where entire water supply sources were contaminated with pesticides, etc from not having anti siphon valves.

I bet she does, though.

If her mobile home is a later model she probably does. Some folks get mad at the devices for leaking, etc. and take them off.
In the country you only kill your own family on a well, but in the city there is usually a fine, after the fact like if there is a house fire and the pressure is drawn down by the hydrants releasing lots of water causing a siphoning action.
She may be surprised by the bill too, and how the no use level applies to filling swimming pools and ponds.
Willis Utilities

 

[pacerron]

Dennis, I heard many years ago that when Texas A&M (Aggies) first received astro-turf for their football field that they called the manufacturer with a question about installation. They were told to install it with the green side up.

I wonder how much water is used from the raw material stage, manufacturing stage, wharehousing, and transportation till it is delivered and installed at your property per square yard?
Time to watch " How It's Made" on TV.

 

[ultrarunner]

Do they like fluoride?

The drinking water here kills fish... the water company was fined for letting drinking water flow into a creek when they were working on a water tank.

I've seen even the mosquito fish go belly up with water treated with Chloramine.

The flip side of people not irrigating is the last 3 large rate increases are the direct result of people conserving too much water...

Darned of you and Darned if you don't.

The cost for water service is more than a dollar a day without a single drop of water flow.

One of the rentals was vacant with the main turned off... 60 day bill was a little over $70.

Water company says they have fixed costs irregardless of how much water is used...

Might make sense to run a hose from my neighbor and pay him twice the rate for water used... would still come out ahead.

 

[charlz]

I don't see artificial lawns but I do see more appropriate choices in plants and designs for the locale.

Before we moved out of Vegas they were giving rebates for xeriscaping:

"landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the
need for supplemental water from irrigation."

They were installing artificial turf in some of the parks as a trial and people were doing their lawns. One thing that was noted was that 'fake grass' is hot. If you plan on spending time on your lawn like for a BBQ or whatever you needed to water it so evaporation would give you the same cooling effect as a real lawn. :laughing:

 

[pacerron]

Before we moved out of Vegas they were giving rebates for xeriscaping:

"landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the
need for supplemental water from irrigation."

They were installing artificial turf in some of the parks as a trial and people were doing their lawns. One thing that was noted was that 'fake grass' is hot. If you plan on spending time on your lawn like for a BBQ or whatever you needed to water it so evaporation would give you the same cooling effect as a real lawn. :laughing:

Hot is right. Artificial Turf: How Products are Made
Looks like lots of development with great hidden costs to man and the environment.
Can you imagine adding 30 degrees to your Texas lawn right now, with nowhere to go but up.. Think how hot it is in cities now compared to the country and the future release of all the crap into the air from the green rugs that will be covering all the lawn space. When it does rain no where for the water to go but into a overburdened sewer system.
"Global Warming" could really be accelerated by man then.

 

[Western]

Dennis, I heard many years ago that when Texas A&M (Aggies) first received astro-turf for their football field that they called the manufacturer with a question about installation. They were told to install it with the green side up.

Good one Bird!:laughing:

Good thing the backing isn't Purple and white, they may not have called

 

[bindian]

Do they like fluoride?

Eddie and I discussed this at length on my pond thread when I was wanting to berm up to catch more rain run off water from the road ditch. My front ditch and road pavement comes down onto my property past the cul-de-sac. I was worried, since I am at the end of the road and the water company purges their water line in front of my house, that chlorinated water would hurt the fish.

Eddie mentioned that in lower quantities, the chlorine would not hurt my fish. So I bermed my front ditch. Same with the water from the house. The sunshine helps dilute it also.

I ran the hose for about 7 hours last night and raised the pond level about 6 inches. My pond is about 30 x 70 when full, but Vs rather deep fast, down to 12 feet, so there was not much area to raise the level.

I just ran outside to see (what I thought was) a large multi engine Round engine airplane, I heard fly over. It was not an airplane, but a helicopter. Not just any helicopter, but the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane Y'all have been seeing, on television, flying water drops on the fires. By the directiion it was flying, it had just left Montgomery County Airport and headed west, towards the Riley Road fire. Probably now just pouring water on hot spots.

Harvey,
Our Boeing 737-700s use vacuum toilets. They are neat, but need a lot of air to evacuate.
hugs, Brandi

 

[pacerron]

Wow! That adds a whole new meaning to a "touch-n-go" landing. Talk about a quick turnaround. . .

Here's a 2 minute version where the cameraman is positioned to give a much better view of the touch and go. You can save it if you have the free Real Player installed and play it back clearly at full screen.
Tanker Refill LakeOPines 9-10-11.MOV - YouTube

 

[bindian]

Hope you have a good anti-siphon device at your hose bib.
Do you have fish in the pond..

I said into the pond, but the end of the hose was a foot above the water level. Why do you ask if I have an anti-siphon device on the end of the hose?
hugs, Brandi