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PMI announced its support of Governor Jerry Brown’s call for a statewide rebate

mark handler

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Plumbing Manufacturers International announced its support of Governor Jerry Brown’s call for a statewide rebate program

Apr 7, 2015

http://contractormag.com/plumbing/california-water-efficiency-rebates-would-save-360-million-gallons-day-pmi-says

ROLLING MEADOWS, ILLINOIS — Recognizing the severity of the California drought and the call to action it demands, Plumbing Manufacturers International announced its support of Governor Jerry Brown’s call for a statewide rebate program encouraging the purchase of water-efficient plumbing products, such as toilets, showerheads and faucets, to replace older ones.

“In California, the future is now — a time when steps to sustain an ever-precious resource must be taken,” said PMI Executive Director and CEO Barbara C. Higgens, who will be a part of a panel presentation on “The Future of Water” at an April 13 Water Week event in Washington, D.C. “As good stewards of the environment, PMI wants the public to know that using water-efficient plumbing products is an immediate action that can be taken to save water. There have been tremendous advancements in the technology and efficacy of plumbing products. Just as you wouldn’t use a 25-year-old cell phone, it doesn’t make sense to use 25-year-old plumbing technology.”

PMI has long encouraged the replacement of older fixtures with WaterSense toilets, showerheads and faucets meeting Environmental Protection Agency criteria. Widely available in stores throughout California and the nation, WaterSense products can save up to 360 million gallons of water per day in California alone, according to a PMI estimate. PMI and its member companies, which produce most of the plumbing products in the United States, participate as partners in the WaterSense program.

“Using WaterSense products is common sense,” Higgens said.

To earn the WaterSense label, plumbing products are independently tested and certified as using at least 20 percent less water than federal requirements while meeting performance standards. Available at a wide variety of price points and in a broad range of styles, these water-efficient products are now required by the California Building Code in new construction and renovations.

“A statewide rebate program will further water savings by encouraging comprehensive and timely retrofitting of older products in existing buildings,” Higgens said.

She said her organization looks forward to working with the Governor’s Office, the California Energy Commission and elected and regulatory officials to accomplish further water conservation while assuring public health and safety, product performance and consumer satisfaction.

PMI has a history of active engagement and support for California legislative and regulatory efforts to accomplish increased water efficiencies:

PMI was instrumental in the creation and promulgation of the provisions within AB 715 (Laird, Chapter 499, Statutes of 2007) to reduce water consumption of high-efficiency toilets (HET) to 1.28 gallon per flush (gpf) and high efficiency urinals (HEU) to 0.5 gpf. This law set levels of sales for high-efficiency water closets and urinals starting in 2010 and went into full effect for all sales of these products on January 1, 2014. All HETs and HEUs sold in California are required to meet these levels.

PMI also supported the promulgation of SB 407 (Padilla, Chapter 587, Statutes of 2009), which will require the replacement of plumbing fixtures installed prior to 1994 when new fixtures are installed during new construction or remodeling projects. The older fixtures must be replaced with water-conserving fixtures in single-family residences by 2017 and in commercial and multi-family properties by 2019.

PMI also worked closely with the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the Building Standards Commission (BSC) to establish water efficiency levels for the 2013 CALGreen section of the California Building Code, which went into effect on January 1, 2014.
 
mark handler said:
PMI also supported the promulgation of SB 407 (Padilla, Chapter 587, Statutes of 2009), which will require the replacement of plumbing fixtures installed prior to 1994 when new fixtures are installed during new construction or remodeling projects. The older fixtures must be replaced with water-conserving fixtures in single-family residences by 2017 and in commercial and multi-family properties by 2019.
If the goal is saving water, isn't this backwards? Seems like multi-family and commercial uses would account for more of Cali's water problems than single-family homes, to me...
 
JCraver said:
If the goal is saving water, isn't this backwards? Seems like multi-family and commercial uses would account for more of Cali's water problems than single-family homes, to me...
Apartment Associations are big contributers...

And Many commercial users are very high water users
 
Agriculture uses over 80% of the water in California, and the biggest cash crop is marijuana, marijuana cultivation uses vast amounts of water, this is just more fascist control of the population.

Even The Russian Times has an article about marijuana cultivation being the source fo the problem:

\ said:
California's current drought has been caused by the demand for water needed to cultivate cannabis, which, under state law, is illegal for recreational use. Streams are running dry, fish are dying, and it’s just the beginning, US scientists warn.The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has recently published a study, the first of its kind, in the PLOS journal. The scientists, who studied the devastating environmental effects of marijuana cultivation in the region, concluded: “Due to climate change, water scarcity and habitat degradation in northern California is likely to worsen in the future.” ¹
If anyone really wants to pursue this here is the Fish and Wildlife study cited by RT.

¹ http://rt.com/usa/244937-us-marijuana-cultivation-water/
 
Maybe we would be better off to outlaw milk and beef rather than glasses of water and showers?

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If Jeff is looking, why can't I upload pictures anymore? As it is I have to upload to my host and then post full size rather than upload through the site with thumbnails.
 
jdfruit said:
Here is water consumption by uses:View attachment 2585
That's surprising. I guess it's because I live in IL and we have / have always had plenty of water, so it's not something we think about. But 10% of your state's water is used by single-family homes, and only 1% is used by industry? That's interesting.

I don't know where that chart came from, and I'm not doubting its accuracy - but I suspect the word "agriculture", for use in that chart, has a very broad definition.
 
Bottled water and fracking are also huge water consumers and Jerry exempted them from the rule...
 
Ag water use is massive. This state is primarily a desert, even in the sacramento, central, and san joaquin (the great big valley). Average rainfall in NorCal valley is about 20" annually. Most of the water available is from mountain range snow pack, currently there is hardly any. Many dams/reservoirs proposed over the last 40 years have met with huge resistance and were never built. Groundwater levels are dropping from Ag and domestic wells pull about 12 million acre feet of water more than what has been recharging over the last 5 years. Well groundwater levels have dropped by over a hundred feet in some areas and down an average of 25 plus feet across all aquifers. The average usable aquifer depth for "shallow" wells is about 50 feet. So without the snowpack and inadequate reservoir storage, water scientists estimate there is about 1 more year of water supply at current consumption rates.

Mark Twain was correct; Whiskey's for drinkin', water's for fightin'
 
This doesn't make any sense, the largest water consumption by far is agriculture, and the largest water consumer in agriculture by far is marijuana, and marijuana is illegal, why not enforce the law?
 
JDFruit:

I posted a couple above, the Russian Times article gives a short summary:

\ said:
A marijuana plant requires an estimated 22.7 liters of water per day, and, according to the report, the water demand in the growing season from May to September exceeds stream flow in some areas. ¹
I also posted an actual scientific study, if you want to wade through the scientific language.

Marijuana cultivation not only uses vast amounts of water resources it is also the biggest consumer of energy in the state:

\ said:
The published statistics on energy use from indoor marijuana production will blow your mind (whether or not you use the stuff). In a 2012 study of the “carbon footprint of indoor cannabis production” published in the journal Energy Policy, researcher Evan Mills noted that “on occasion, previously unrecognized spheres of energy use come to light,” and marijuana is a textbook example.The study estimated that indoor cannabis (both illegal and legal) uses $6 billion worth of electricity every year, amounting to 1 percent of overall U.S. electricity. And in some production-intensive states like California, it was much higher — 3 percent, Mills found.²
Another interesting fact, before smart meters "energy consultants" to the marijuana industry charged an average of $300 a month to "roll the meters back" so the enormous usage wasn't detectable by the utilities, they used a system of magnets and had to go onsite monthly, the advent of smart meters has been a boon to the marijuana industry, hackers can now hack into the meters and roll them back. I was sitting in a Silicon Valley engineer customer's home discussing thermostats, he called a hacker friend in Seattle and made a bet as to how long it would take him to get control of his thermostat, we went over to the wall and watched it, it took about 20 minutes and the guy in Seattle rolled the thermostat back, he then called him again once he had control and proceeded to tell him what temperatures he wanted, he adjusted the temperatures immediately as we watched the thermostat move. Got a neighbor who ****es you off by putting solar panels on his roof? Simple, find a kid hacker and pay him a few bucks every month to make the guys bills zoom as high as you want.

¹ http://rt.com/usa/244937-us-marijuana-cultivation-water/

² http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/23/one-surprising-downside-of-marijuana-legalization-major-energy-use/
 
The pie chart is hugely misleading, by omission.

Factor in environmental and fish flows and see the recalibration. Ag will be right around 40% percent.

My wife is the lead grant anylist at Fish and Game. You guys would shlt bricks if you saw some of the projects.

We let the environmentalists win.

Whatever you think of commercial ag, they are very frugal compared to thier output. The organic farmers we all know and love (2 of my closest friends are in this catagory) consume at least twice as much water for production as the big boys.

Brent.
 
“A statewide rebate program will further water savings by encouraging comprehensive and timely retrofitting of older products in existing buildings,” Higgens said.
It's not a rebate. Nobody paid money to the State and now the State is giving some of it back. That would be a rebate. This is a gift. The state is giving away my money. Hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars have been gifted. Mostly to big businesses like Solar City and Verengo Solar. Any industry that wouldn't exist were it not for my money being put in their pocket, shouldn't exist.
 
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