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Hauling 275 gallons of Recycled Water with an IBC Tote

June 4, 2015 / Bret / 5 Comments

I bought a house last year that I share with my girlfriend and dog. Like any guy that is mechanical in nature I would much rather be outside working in the yard than being couped up inside playing on the computer. With the California drought, I took an interest in hauling RecycledH2O as I drive a massive truck and have a thirsty lawn and yard. Here is my story.

I drive a Ford F350 which can support over 2600 lbs in the truck bed. I tried the 150 gallon bladder option but would much rather transport more water per trip as my truck can handle the load. I wanted to haul more water, so I found a 275 gallon IBC tote on Craigslist for a little more than $100. It worked perfectly for my needs.

What Can I Do To Lower My Water Usage? – Homeowner edition

June 2, 2015 / nick / 1 Comment

Last night, on the news, nearly every news station had a story on the drought and how you must reduce. But how many of them provided good, quality tips on ways that really work?

June 1st, 2015 marked the date where water reduction mandates would take effect. Homeowners MUST reduce their usage by up to 38% depending on where they live. The complete list is available here for “conservation standard” for your water company – information that is available at the State Water Resource Control Board website.

East Bay Municipal Utilities District – 16% reduction
Contra Costa Water District – 28% reduction

As a homeowner – what steps can you take to lower your usage – starting today to going extreme?

Using Recycled Water as Fertilizer

May 29, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

Any homeowner with a lawn can attest that in order to have a lush green lawn they need to water it and apply fertilizer. Between finding the appropriate fertilizer strength, to buying the tools to properly spread it so the grass doesn’t burn, to applying ridiculous amounts of water to break down the granules so that maybe some day the grass will be lush. Or paying a lawn fertilizer application company like TruGreen to fertilize your lawn for you at a minimum of $30/application.

This is easy – people don’t want their green lawns to go brown.

Did you know that Recycled Water already has some of the same elements in found in fertilizer and when applied to lawns they start working immediately?

Whats the Best Fertilizer For Your Lawn? Recycled Water. Water soluble nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium ready to work now with no extra watering required. Read on for details as to why.

Tolerance of landscape GRASS to species to Recycled Water spray

May 28, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

As previously noted in “What Impact Does Recycled Water Have On Plants In The Garden” this is the fifth set in a series of data as provided from the UC Davis Report on “Landscape Plant Selection Guide For Recycled Water Irrigation“.

For this table, grasses are listed in 4 columns. The first is its Botanical Name, second column is Common Name, third column is its tolerance to salt spray and fourth column is its tolerance to soil salinity.

Plants were watered with spray irrigation from recycled water. The big take-away with this list is almost all grasses can handle recycled water and thrive in its environment.

Tolerance of landscape GROUNDCOVER and VINE species to Recycled Water Spray

May 26, 2015 / nick / 1 Comment

As previously noted in “What Impact Does Recycled Water Have On Plants In The Garden” this is the fourth in a series of data as provided from the UC Davis Report on “Landscape Plant Selection Guide For Recycled Water Irrigation“.

For this table, ground covers and vines are listed in 4 columns. The first is its Botanical Name, second column is Common Name, third column is its tolerance to salt spray and fourth column is its tolerance to soil salinity.

Plants were watered with spray irrigation from recycled water. The big take-away with this list is almost most ground covers and vines can handle RecycledH2O and thrive in its environment.

Is RecycledH2O … Gray Water?

May 24, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

We were downtown today and met a couple from Sacramento. They were concerned about our drought and asked how they could get gray water at their house. I asked them what they defined gray water as and they said “you know, recycled water.”

HOLD UP!

Recycled Water is not “Gray Water” and this post is meant to differentiate the two.

Tolerance of landscape SHRUB species to Recycled Water Spray

May 23, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

As previously noted in “What Impact Does Recycled Water Have On Plants In The Garden” this is the third in a series of data as provided from the UC Davis Report on “Landscape Plant Selection Guide For Recycled Water Irrigation“.

For this table, shrubs are listed in 4 columns. The first is its Botanical Name, second column is Common Name, third column is its tolerance to salt spray and fourth column is its tolerance to soil salinity.

Plants were watered with spray irrigation from recycled water. The big take-away with this list is some shrubs can handle RecycledH2O and thrive in its environment.

Front Yard Re-Landscaping

May 22, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

I follow a page on Facebook called “Grow Food Not Lawns“, they are HUGE advocates for getting rid of the water hog called a lawn and planting it with something more beneficial to the homeowner. I have never been very interested in lawns as they require a lot of water, upkeep and I find them a rather large waste of space.

The water district in my area offered a “Lawn to Garden Rebate Program” which would pay up to $1,000 for homeowners or $10,000 for commercial, municipal or HOA’s. Basically $1 per square foot of lawn removed.

Tolerance of landscape PALM species to Recycled Water Spray

May 20, 2015 / nick / 0 Comments

As previously noted in “What Impact Does Recycled Water Have On Plants In The Garden” this is the second in a series of data as provided from the UC Davis Report on “Landscape Plant Selection Guide For Recycled Water Irrigation“.

For this table, palms are listed in 4 columns. The first is its Botanical Name, second column is Common Name, third column is its tolerance to salt spray and fourth column is its tolerance to soil salinity.

Plants were watered with spray irrigation from recycled water. The big take-away with this list is almost all palms can handle RecycledH2O and thrive in its environment.

Thinking of Re-Landscaping – Consider Using Mulch

May 16, 2015 / nick / 1 Comment

Thinking of re-landscaping? Use mulch to cover bare spots on the ground.

Mulch does so much for the ground besides just making it look good. Mulch keeps moisture in, by limiting evaporation. Mulch breaks down and provides nutrients for the soil, which plants use to grow. Decomposed mulch can help the soil retain moisture as a water storage medium and its all natural.

Lots of people with clay soils want to add as much mulch as they can to help improve the quality of their soil. Compost helps too.

Mulch can be found in many different varieties – Home Depot has a vast assortment of mulch available – the best kind is free from the back of a tree trimming truck. Many tree trimming companies will be willing to leave 5-10 yards of wood chips on your driveway at the end of their day – just make sure you have the means to move it.

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