Water consumption isn’t taken lightly in the Fleming household — even stale water left in the dog dish.
Whatever liquid the dog doesn’t lick up is used to hydrate the flower pots in Diane and Don Fleming’s award-winning yard.
The Red Deer couple won the city’s naturescaping contest last summer for transforming their outdoor space into a water-friendly sanctuary.
It was just one of the many projects the Flemings have taken on over the past six years to become more water wise.
They have cut back on their water usage by starting small and building on it.
“It all takes time and it’s a work in progress. But it all adds up and makes a difference,” Diane said.
The couple replaced most of their grass with a vegetable garden, shrubbery, flowers, mulching and stonework.
Plants that thrive in warm and dry conditions decorate the yard’s sunniest spots and two rain barrels provide all the needed water.
Indoors, Diane and Don have replaced various fixtures with water-efficient alternatives.
Three of their four toilets are low-flow, as are all three of their shower heads.
They have high-efficiency washer, dryer and hot water tank, and they are looking into purchasing a high-efficiency dishwasher.
Residents are being asked to follow in the Flemings’ footsteps by cutting back on water usage this summer. This is the season when consumption levels jump by as much as 50 per cent in normal summers, thanks in large part to lawn watering and car washing.
And the City of Red Deer shares Diane’s belief that small steps can result in a measurable decrease in consumption.
“Water conservation is not about changing people’s quality of life,” said Nathalie Viau, performance reporting co-ordinator with the city.
“It’s a behaviour change that where asking for.”
Cutting back can be as easy, she said.
Turn the water off when brushing your teeth. Fix a leaky faucet. Opt for a quick shower over bathing in a tub filled to the brim. Keep a pitcher of water in the fridge instead of running the tap until the water turns cold. Water your lawn less. Only water your lawn and garden early in the morning or late in the day to avoid rapid evaporation. Use rain barrels.
Then, if you can afford it, replace old appliances and fixtures with water-efficient ones.
Another one of Viau’s suggestions: stop buying bottled water.
“The impact of a bottled water is huge,” she said, explaining that it takes five litres of water to just manufacture one plastic one-litre bottle.
Using municipal water over bottled will also save you money. You can get more than 1,000 litres of tap water for roughly the price one 500-ml bottle of water.
But accessible, clean water available for cheap has likely contributed to North American’s wasteful water habits, Viau said.
On average, local residents use twice the amount of water in one day than do Europeans, who pay significantly more than the 74 cents per 1,000 litres that Red Deerians are charged.
“We place very little value on the water because there’s very little financial value placed on it,” said Todd Nivens, program co-ordinator at the Kerry Wood Nature Centre.
“We do act in a fairly wasteful manner around water.”
Much like increasing prices sees the demand for gas decrease, Nivens and Viau believe higher water prices may result in residents using less water.
But increasing costs will most likely only result in a temporary change, both agreed, saying the best way to improve water habits is to educate residents.
To do so, the city runs programs such as the Water-Wise Naturescaping Contest and the newly-launched school tour of the Water Treatment Plant.
The Kerry Wood Nature Centre strives to lead by example. The centre has a water-free urinal. Every toilet in the building is low-flow, and the staff shower head is low-flow. Rainwater is caught in barrels. The centre saves 30,000 litres of water each year just from the one water-free urinal.
“(People need to) understand our water supply isn’t infinite and it’s pretty fragile,” Nivens said.
The current high level of the Red Deer River should not be mistaken as a guarantee for an abundant supply of life’s most vital source well into the future, he said.
Global warming — evident in the receding Columbia Glacier — growing communities, oil and gas production, and agriculture all put a strain on water availability.
Nivens pointed to Victoria as an example because that city routinely suffers water shortages in the summer despite its waterside location.
In Calgary, he added, experts figure the Bow River will reach its viability balance — where the amount of water taken out of the river equals the amount of water going into the river from its source — by 2013.
The Red Deer River is nowhere near its viability balance yet, Nivens said, but people should still be concerned about how much water they’re using.
He reiterated the message of starting small.
“Quite often, it’s just quite as simple as turning a tap off,” Nivens said.
The Red Deer River Watershed Alliance also has tips on how to conserve water. Visit http://www.rdrwa.ca/?page_id=147 to see the simple but effective suggestions.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com
Fast Facts:
• The average family home in Red Deer uses 18,000 litres of water in a months time.
• Of that, approximately 30 per cent is flushed down the toilet and another 35 per cent is used when taking a shower or bath.
• Common summer activities such as watering the lawn and washing a car can increase household water use by 50 per cent.
• Toilets manufactured in the 1980s and 1990s use between 13 and 20 litres of water per flush.
• The City of Red Deer charges residents 74 cents per 1,000 litres of municipal water. This is significantly cheaper than what some cities in Europe charge. For example, cities in Belgium and France charge upwards of $2.36 per 1,000 litres.
• Most homeowners use four to five times more water on their lawn than needed. Lawn care generally only requires two- to three-cm of water per week.
• A five-minute shower with a standard shower head uses 100 litres of water while a five-minute shower with a low-flow shower head uses 35 litres water.
• A tap leaking one drop of water per minute will waste 9,000 litres of water a year.
• A three-mm stream of water running from a leaky faucet wastes 1,600 litres of water in one day or 48,000 litres in one month. This equals roughly $35.52 per month on your water bill.
Sources: The City of Red Deer, Environment Canada and Red Deer River Watershed Alliance