Newest item for Californians to take on vacation-- the dirty laundry

[clifffaith]

This new law blew right past us. I just happened to have the local news on now to learn of our new water law. Starting tomorrow, Californians are limited to 55 gallons of water per person per day. A load of laundry takes about 40 gallons, an EIGHT MINUTE shower takes 17 gallons (heck it takes half that time for the water to get warm). A household with one person in it can't shower and do laundry the same day without incurring a $1,000 fine for every day they go over (fine becomes $10K/day under drought conditions).

Our local water company is notorious for billing issues under normal circumstances. No way they can get this right. And how do they know how many people are in a household? Seriously, if this is implemented the way it was written, it will be cheaper to put you in a hotel than to have you in my home using water when you visit. Of course we all can expect to see a water usage fee added to our stays, no California hotel or resort will miss an opportunity to make the water use a money maker.

We'll strip the beds and take laundry baskets full of dirty clothes with us to timeshare vacations until they start charging for water. Suddenly resorts with in room laundry will be that much harder to book. Rather than orange and lemon scents wafting through our California air, we'll all be smelling unwashed bodies and dirty clothes!

 

[davidvel]

This is completely and utterly FALSE.

 

[clifffaith]

This is completely and utterly FALSE.

As soon as I saw the news, a lawyer describing new laws starting tomorrow, I googled it. All the local news folk were mystified like myself, never having heard anything about this before today. Lots of Google references to 55 gallons going down to 50 gallons over the next decade. If you can point to info that this bill was never passed, I'd love for that to be true.

 

[rhonda]

I live on a well in the San Diego mountains. Running laundry has long been a pleasure and delight of timesharing.

During the 2016 drought, my well was seriously underperforming. You bet we booked nearby Worldmark visits just so we could run laundry and enjoy soaking in a bathtub. So glad for timeshare!

 

[amycurl]

It looks like these laws went into effect at the beginning of 2019?

The Coast News Group

Your community. Your newspaper. Covers Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Carmel Valley, Rancho Santa Fe, Escondido, San Marcos & Vista.

www.thecoastnews.com

The article says enforcement won't begin until 2021 at the earliest.

 

[klpca]

It looks like these laws went into effect at the beginning of 2019?

The Coast News Group

Your community. Your newspaper. Covers Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Carmel Valley, Rancho Santa Fe, Escondido, San Marcos & Vista.

www.thecoastnews.com

The article says enforcement won't begin until 2021 at the earliest.

And this helps to clarify: "The new laws and regulations do not apply to individuals, just water agencies, according to the city of Carlsbad’s website."

Water is going to be a battle in the future for sure. We have water efficient washer/dryer, dishwasher, low flow toilets, low flow shower heads and a low flow kitchen faucet. Saving water becomes a way of life. We recently removed our lawn and put in artificial turf, mostly to be able to control our costs for maintaining our home in retirement. We have made major use of succulents in our landscaping too. Eventually we will hopefully only be using a minimum amount of water, because the cost will have to increase as the availability has to be spread over a greater number of users.

 

[clifffaith]

And this helps to clarify: "The new laws and regulations do not apply to individuals, just water agencies, according to the city of Carlsbad’s website."

"Water agencies" sounds a heck of a lot better -- spread the 55 gallons over thousands/millions of people. Problem is until it comes down to an individual's pocket hurting, I think compliance will be half hearted and the things we already do -- have a nozzle on your hose so you can turn it off rather than letting it run when working with it, don't use the hose to clean up yard litter, water the grass less often, do full loads of dishes or laundry, try to minimize shower time (get in, get it done, get out, no luxuriating in the hot water). No way I'd weigh "shower vs laundry" until there was a penalty. Even then I'd vote for a weekly allowance, not a daily cap.

 

["Roger"]

To add more perspective ...

40 gallons would be for an older washer. Front loading HE washers tend to use much less depending on the model, but the middle teens would be an approximation. The reason eight minutes came up is that is the average time someone uses to take a shower.

More and more water is becoming a scarce commodity world wide. Welcome to the future.

 

[GetawaysRus]

I live in California and have a gym membership.

So where do you think I shower on most days?

 

[VacationForever]

I thought drought is officially over in California?

 

[davidvel]

As soon as I saw the news, a lawyer describing new laws starting tomorrow, I googled it. All the local news folk were mystified like myself, never having heard anything about this before today. Lots of Google references to 55 gallons going down to 50 gallons over the next decade. If you can point to info that this bill was never passed, I'd love for that to be true.

A bill was passed. What you posted, including $1000 fines for us, is false.

 

[SmithOp]

I live in California and have a gym membership.

So where do you think I shower on most days?

Me too, Silver Sneakers membership at 24Fitness. Shower-swim-steam-shower.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

To add more perspective ...

40 gallons would be for an older washer. Front loading HE washers tend to use much less depending on the model, but the middle teens would be an approximation. The reason eight minutes came up is that is the average time someone uses to take a shower.

More and more water is becoming a scarce commodity world wide. Welcome to the future.

Let me know when the Pacific Ocean disappears. . . .

 

[pedro47]

Wow, I did not know we were breaking the law, taking two (2) showers per day last year in San Diego. LOL.
The Hotel never informs us of this water restrictions.

 

[Brett]

A bill was passed. What you posted, including $1000 fines for us, is false.

yes, false, but there are "guidelines" for California residents to use only 55 gal a day .... could be tough for some people

 

[presley]

I remember seeing a quick news cast about this earlier in 2019. It gave almost zero information, just a dramatic tone about how people in California could only use 55 gallons per person and how much water is used in the old fashioned washing machines (not even sure those are still available). I tried to look it up at the time and could only find drama news - nothing truly black and white information.

I just looked again because of this thread and I see it's merely a way to get people to conserve their water use. We are not supposed to use more than 55 gallons per person for inside use. The outdoor use is unlimited and there's no way for them to know how much is being used indoors vs. outdoors. If they do come up with a way to figure that out, I'm not beyond putting my washer and my shower outside.

 

[klpca]

Let me know when the Pacific Ocean disappears. . . .

I know that you answer is tongue-in-cheek, but desalination is still super expensive. I believe that it's actually cheaper to use recycled water. It's used for landscaping here.

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

Tongue in cheek yes, but also serious. There isn't a shortage of water on the globe. There is a shortage of potable water in certain locations. Exaggerating beyond the acts does not help people solve the problems. (People could also move to where there is more water, which would also be cheaper than desalination.)

 

[GetawaysRus]

I sense an opportunity for California to introduce a new tax, the "excess water use tax." After all, what California politician has ever met a revenue opportunity that he/she didn't like.

 

[klpca]

Tongue in cheek yes, but also serious. There isn't a shortage of water on the globe. There is a shortage of potable water in certain locations. Exaggerating beyond the acts does not help people solve the problems. (People could also move to where there is more water, which would also be cheaper than desalination.)

Not sure about that. Moving is not cheap, and multiplying that by the number of people who would have to move seems like an awful lot. Personally, I find it isn't that big of an issue to use water thoughtfully. But I wouldn't mind if enough people moved away. I was born and raised here and I highly doubt that I will leave. I would selfishly like to have it easier here in my home state Of course that's not how it works, so I think that conservation, thoughtful landscaping, and exploration of new water saving technologies is probably where we are headed.

Btw I see that you live in Texas. I have a friend who just moved from Dallas to Phoenix in July and the cost of her water is a fraction of the cost in Phoenix compared to Dallas. We couldn't figure that one out. I honestly don't know anything about water supply in Texas, but she said that she couldn't spit without hitting a reservoir, yet her water is cheaper in the middle of the desert. Go figure.

 

[buzglyd]

Me too, Silver Sneakers membership at 24Fitness. Shower-swim-steam-shower.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I hope you remove your silver sneakers before all that.

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

Not sure about that. Moving is not cheap, and multiplying that by the number of people who would have to move seems like an awful lot. Personally, I find it isn't that big of an issue to use water thoughtfully. But I wouldn't mind if enough people moved away. I was born and raised here and I highly doubt that I will leave. I would selfishly like to have it easier here in my home state Of course that's not how it works, so I think that conservation, thoughtful landscaping, and exploration of new water saving technologies is probably where we are headed.

Btw I see that you live in Texas. I have a friend who just moved from Dallas to Phoenix in July and the cost of her water is a fraction of the cost in Phoenix compared to Dallas. We couldn't figure that one out. I honestly don't know anything about water supply in Texas, but she said that she couldn't spit without hitting a reservoir, yet her water is cheaper in the middle of the desert. Go figure.

Water is expensive in the DFW Metroplex. It costs me more than electricity, currently. Greater that 50% is recycled, it is a most interesting process. DFW has exploded in population in the last 20 years, coming close to tripling. We are building more lakes for water, they cost lots of money. Hence the higher rates. (And still comes the population.)

However there are no Draconian water use laws in Texas. The attitude is - if you are willing to pay for it, you can get all the water you want.

 

[klpca]

Water is expensive in the DFW Metroplex. It costs me more than electricity, currently. Greater that 50% is recycled, it is a most interesting process. DFW has exploded in population in the last 20 years, coming close to tripling. We are building more lakes for water, they cost lots of money. Hence the higher rates. (And still comes the population.)

However there are no Draconian water use laws in Texas. The attitude is - if you are willing to pay for it, you can get all the water you want.

How do you just get more water? We have a limited supply from the Colorado River.

 

[buzglyd]

How do you just get more water? We have a limited supply from the Colorado River.

California's problem isn't the lack of water, it's the lack of new reservoir construction. Add in the fact that the pols claim a smelt is endangered and trillions of gallons are flushed into the ocean.

The goal is to keep us starving so we're always begging. They've already done it to the farmers and we will be next.

 

[Ralph Sir Edward]

How do you just get more water? We have a limited supply from the Colorado River.

We build more lakes, for more water storage. Like virtually everywhere else, it comes from rainfall. Where does the Colorado's water come from? Rain/Snowfall. . .