Should lawn sprinklers be outlawed nationwide? I think so.

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[gorcorps]

While the idea of a lawn is still silly to me, I still want to keep it looking nice.

 

[poofyhairguy]

http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/08/14/fracking-strains-water-supplies-oil-or-water

The people of Barnhart, a tiny West Texas community near San Angelo, are certainly paying attention. Thanks to fracking's outsized water demands, the town well has gone dry. The town's water crisis brings to mind another old saw: "The prospect of being hanged focuses the mind wonderfully." In Barnhart, where a severe and lingering drought already had put a strain on the water supply, minds are focused these days, though not so wonderfully. A recent story in the Guardian noted that ranchers have had to dump their herds, farmers have lost their crops and residents are being forced to live with water rationing. In addition, the area aquifer is being strained. Still, the oil industry continues to demand water, and those with water on their land are still willing to sell it.Every month, oil and gas companies dispose of 290 million barrels of wastewater from fracking. That's the equivalent of 18,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools, Luke Metzger of Environment Texas points out. That's water that can never be used again - in a drought-debilitated state, no less. At least partial solutions are possible, including mandatory recycling, saline or brackish water use and waterless fracking, but Texas lawmakers, for the most part, have allowed the industry to have its way.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/texas-water-shortage-082113

Town places restrictions on residents water usage, yet fracking continues , eventually the town is out of water.

Texas is in a really bad drought right now. In many areas you can't water more than once a week, and they are considering making that every two weeks.

So what the OP wants is happening all around me.

Also, if everybody upstream uses all the water in the river, then everybody downstream is going to die of thirst. Just because it's a "closed system" doesn't mean you can use it however you want with no repercussions to others or the environment.

Most water usage is negotiated for this reason. Here in Texas rice farmers are always fighting for the water.

 

[Vic Vega]

...

 

[T9D]

I get rid of my lawn at every house I get. Let it all die. And put in nice drought tolerant plants and ground cover. I can not tell you how nice it is doing this. Never having to worry about mowing every week, no weed and feed. No watering all the time or worry about it if I go on vacation. No overgrowth you have to look at if you don't get around to mowing. Plus it saves me money. Such nice piece of mind without a lawn around.

I actually prefer the look of my yard without it too. I like to add some Ivy also. It's really easy to take care of too and needs very little water. Good for places you don't need to walk. Let it grow over walls and it keeps the heat down.

Lawns really are incredibly wasteful. Fertilizers aren't good either. Even if you have a lot of water in your area it still takes a lot of energy and chemicals to clean the water. Honestly try it. Maybe you have a crappy lawn that needs redoing anyway. Why not just try getting rid of it before redoing it all. If you do it right I think you'll love it. Your wallet with be thankful.

With that being said I have to water by hand every single day right now until my new plants at my new place are established. (bought this new house last year). 95 degree weather is brutal for them the first year or so. God watering all the time sucks. So much water too. Still way better than having to water that dang lawn and worry about it though.

 

[waggy]

While the idea of a lawn is still silly to me, I still want to keep it looking nice.

a lawn is great if you have kids.

I don't see EVER useing the last drop of water. IF it even gets close we have more things to worry about.

 

[JM Aggie08]

It must be 'attempt to start a retarded debate' day on AT today. This is the 2nd one in the last hour or so that makes absolutely no sense.

Maybe it's a Friday the 13th thing.

 

[SurelyYouJest]

While technically what you say is right, it's an incredibly selfish and ignorant view.

The colorado river, snake river, and others are being pumped dry by agriculture and homes in the mid-west. This is destroying the ecosystems around it.

Also, if everybody upstream uses all the water in the river, then everybody downstream is going to die of thirst. Just because it's a "closed system" doesn't mean you can use it however you want with no repercussions to others or the environment.

This is why in the U.S. we have a water rights system in place. The people downstream either need to buy water rights or rent the water. Or do you think they should just get it "gratis"?

 

[sdifox]

My water comes from the Great Lakes. No shortage of water here. But I don't water the lawn unless we go weeks without rain. I don't want to spend money on extra utilities if I don't have to.

Great Lakes have lost tons of water. The people piping water and bottling it is not helping. Government that grants them the licence to do so are the culprit.

I have seen water delivery trucks that belong to private company filling the tanker with water from hydrant and no meter attached. WTF.


http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...manmade-drain-hole-near-detroit-58094902.html

 

[Golgatha]

"Fresh" water is a premium. The money and energy it takes to treat the shit so you can drink it out of the tap, only to have it sprayed into the ground is a travesty. But people like green shit and the places that have water shortages actually do something about it locally (e.g. Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Texas).

Once someone figures out cheap desalination, all bets are off... Damn salt.

I would vote for greywater being used for sprinkler systems. You're absolutely right that it takes too much energy to clean the water, when the only purpose for it is vanity. I think it ought to be mandatory to hook sprinkler systems and toilet water up to greywater systems for new construction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greywater

 

[rudeguy]

My water comes from the Great Lakes. No shortage of water here. But I don't water the lawn unless we go weeks without rain. I don't want to spend money on extra utilities if I don't have to.

Hey mine too!

And the Grand River, which is really high again. I'm going to go turn on the sprinklers to do my part to help out.

 

[jaha2000]

Quit drinking bottled water and it will help the cause..
See how far lake mead is down these days? Mostly because people are not supposed to live in the middle of the stupid desert.

 

[DrPizza]

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/huge...-8-states-quickly-being-tapped-out-8C11009320

Huge aquifer that runs through 8 states quickly being tapped out.

(due to over irrigation, wasteful watering, fraud, abuse and corruption no doubt)

8 states != 50 states. I'm sure there are other states that apply, or regions in other states (NM, NV, etc.) But, it's not in short supply around here.

 

[Murloc]

no shortage here, it has to be very localized. Here they ban watering gardens in certain municipalities if teh water is scarce, during the summer.

Also you can't water your lawn without a sprinkler, the problem is irresponsible use imho. Running it at night for just enough time is okay. If you live in a desert area and have to routinely sprinkle you should just give up on having a good looking lawn though imho, if you don't like it, don't live in the desert.

Also agriculture and golf is the main issue imho, they waste lots of water with sprinklers.

 

[techs]

To be more accurate water is in short supply in some areas of the world. Its not a water shortage but a distribution problem. Humans use a lot of water, and farming even more. The costs to transport water are prohibitively high in most cases.

 

[rudeguy]

To be more accurate water is in short supply in some areas of the world. Its not a water shortage but a distribution problem. Humans use a lot of water, and farming even more. The costs to transport water are prohibitively high in most cases.

no...the problem is people trying to live where there is no water. Its not that hard people...

 

[boomerang]

There's always something to be worried about...

 

[mammador]

no shortage here, it has to be very localized. Here they ban watering gardens in certain municipalities if teh water is scarce, during the summer.

Also you can't water your lawn without a sprinkler, the problem is irresponsible use imho. Running it at night for just enough time is okay. If you live in a desert area and have to routinely sprinkle you should just give up on having a good looking lawn though imho, if you don't like it, don't live in the desert.

Also agriculture and golf is the main issue imho, they waste lots of water with sprinklers.

Erm.. if one lives in a climate of reasonable rain/precipitation, there is no need to continuously sprinkle.

Aesthetics/comfort is one thing, but water is a life necessity. To waste water in sprinkling a lawn is silly.

Also, people need food, so damn those evil Neolithic people for inventing agriculture. Golf IMO is the most immoral of all major world sports, since it takes land that could be used for housing, agriculture, etc. for sport. Yeah, sport rules, but a golf course is larger on average than most other sporting facilities, and most sporting facilities are in city/urban areas anyhow. It should be banned IMO.

 

[mammador]

To be more accurate water is in short supply in some areas of the world. Its not a water shortage but a distribution problem. Humans use a lot of water, and farming even more. The costs to transport water are prohibitively high in most cases.

So yeah, growing food is evil now? It's silly to suggest that's a frivolous use. Even if all modern farming techniques went away, yeah, watering wheat and giving cattle, pigs and sheep water to drink is as bad as Stalin...

 

[Murloc]

Erm.. if one lives in a climate of reasonable rain/precipitation, there is no need to continuously sprinkle.

Aesthetics/comfort is one thing, but water is a life necessity. To waste water in sprinkling a lawn is silly.

Also, people need food, so damn those evil Neolithic people for inventing agriculture. Golf IMO is the most immoral of all major world sports, since it takes land that could be used for housing, agriculture, etc. for sport. Yeah, sport rules, but a golf course is larger on average than most other sporting facilities, and most sporting facilities are in city/urban areas anyhow. It should be banned IMO.

yeah I agree with you, that's why I said you should give up on having a lawn if you chose to live in the desert.
I live in a temperate climate where sprinkling is necessary only during the dry periods of the summer and water is freely available.

no...the problem is people trying to live where there is no water. Its not that hard people...

well until the governments start enforcing a stop to the worsening of unsustainable water use (I'm not even talking about correcting the already existing overuse) it's not going to change.

So yeah, growing food is evil now? It's silly to suggest that's a frivolous use. Even if all modern farming techniques went away, yeah, watering wheat and giving cattle, pigs and sheep water to drink is as bad as Stalin...

intensive cultivation techniques waste lots of water through evaporation because of sprinklers. It's unsustainable agriculture.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Conservation of matter proves that there will never be a "last drop of water". You're full of it.

Conservation of matter, are you joking. I can still have 2H2O --> 2H2+O2 and I am pretty sure at STP I am not going to be able to drink diatomic Hydrogen or diatomic Oxygen.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Those concerned about water.

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT flush your toilet. You are being extremely wasteful.

Let it pile up to support your theory.

 

[dighn]

it feels "wrong" but what would that accomplish? it's not like the saved water will be transported to areas that lack it. using it also doesn't deplete it; it's a renewable resource (depends on where you are I suppose. ground water depletion seems to be a problem in some areas).

 

[JimmiG]

"Fresh" water is a premium. The money and energy it takes to treat the shit so you can drink it out of the tap, only to have it sprayed into the ground is a travesty. But people like green shit and the places that have water shortages actually do something about it locally (e.g. Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Texas).

Once someone figures out cheap desalination, all bets are off... Damn salt.

We also flush our toilets with drinking water, which is really stupid. We should make better use of greywater.

 

[mammador]

The issue also is too much freedom. Or more accurately, before somebody flames me, more freedom without recognising its cost.

I consider myself a libertarian, but I think modern Western culture has too much of an entitlement complex rivalling a toddler. We should really temper freedom with social cost. As an example, living in the desert? So yeah, plenty of A/C, high electricity, fossil fuel production, etc. I know somebody will flame me, but I genuinely feel that much of contemporary Western society's issues stem from an abuse of liberty. This is why people are obese, for instance. They eat all they want, and then don't give a shit despite the cumulative effect that millions of obese people have on society. So if healthcare costs rise for everybody, governments have to scale back state provision (this is to my UK compatriots. Do you think the NHS would be viable in 30 years should this continue?), and countries become less productive, yeah a real boon..

Someone further may say I'm not a "true" libertarian lol.. Well yeah, no true Scotsman aside, I don't see liberty at odds with social wellbeing. IMO, the two are inherently linked. We don't allow people to kill and rape others because they negatively affect society in many ways. They violate rights because we created rights concepts to protect ourselves and further society.