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Lookin like rain tonight and tomm.

2/21/2008 11:12:39 AM

Fun Eco Green Tip: Fill up your hot tub with grey water from showers and baths. The soap suds will give it extra bubbles.

2/21/2008 11:41:32 AM

^Thats better than the idea I had a while back. Pee in the toilet tank. That way, when you flush, you aren't using water.

2/21/2008 12:35:21 PM

Anyone know what the laws are pertaining to places that run pools during the summer? It would suck to not have my pool job

2/21/2008 12:41:04 PM

can't fill them.

2/21/2008 12:47:33 PM

Quote :

"Fun Eco Green Tip: Fill up your hot tub with grey water from showers and baths. The soap suds will give it extra bubbles."

yeah, but the urine will smell bad.

2/21/2008 1:03:23 PM

Quote :

"I wasn't able to find anything about Raleigh being stage 4 either, but Durham has been at 4 since December, so I believed gunzz when he said it. "

i heard it on 680 AM Talk Radio and took them at face value

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 1:08 PM. Reason : d]

2/21/2008 1:08:02 PM

^^ It'll act as a natural fungicide. Bah-bam, two birds with one stone.

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 1:08 PM. Reason : ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^]

2/21/2008 1:08:32 PM

Quote :

"yeah, but the urine will smell bad."

I thought the eco-tip was a joke. Mine was, at least.

But do you really have that much urine in your bath water?



[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 1:13 PM. Reason : Hey, the urine adds extra bubbles. amirite?]

2/21/2008 1:12:24 PM

pee does not sterilize anything.

2/21/2008 1:12:37 PM

apparently it is illegal in NC (and most states) to use greywater for anything, even irrigation. i always had this thought of collecting bath water in large containers and using that to water your lawn, but it appears that is not safe.

2/21/2008 3:25:37 PM

can't see myself chillin in my hot tub full of grey water...so i'm going to go ahead and fill it up cause a 350 gallon hot tub can't be considered a pool...sorry skwink pray for rain.

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 3:31 PM. Reason : asdf]

2/21/2008 3:30:46 PM

You asked the law and we told you. Not sure why you asked if you were just going to ignore us.

2/21/2008 3:32:39 PM

i don't think this falls under the category of a swimming or wading pool

2/21/2008 3:33:11 PM

Well then you'd be wrong. If you can't even serve water in a restaurant except when requested, you sure as hell can't fill up a whole hot tub.

And if you doubt the legality, call up the city and ask.

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 3:37 PM. Reason : .]

2/21/2008 3:36:44 PM

Quote :

"yall dont phase me"

english much?

2/21/2008 3:42:05 PM

Quote :

"apparently it is illegal in NC (and most states) to use greywater for anything, even irrigation. i always had this thought of collecting bath water in large containers and using that to water your lawn, but it appears that is not safe."

What? How about a link to back that up. I'm almost positive it's done. Its just rare.

If you're right about it, I want to know.

2/21/2008 3:42:46 PM

^^ He meant faze. Basically, he was saying screw you guys for wanting me to abide by the law and be environmentally conscious. (I think)

2/21/2008 3:44:12 PM

correct...

2/21/2008 3:46:47 PM

Would you happen to be Hunter? I imagine it would be rather inconvenient for you if someone called the city and notified them of your actions ...

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 3:55 PM. Reason : I'll remove your last name, to be nice]

2/21/2008 3:52:09 PM

Hunter, you are not anonymous to everyone
might want to rethink breaking the law

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 3:54 PM. Reason : damn you swinkle...beat me to it ]

2/21/2008 3:53:39 PM

Why are you damning me? I was thinking high-five.

2/21/2008 3:54:58 PM

b/c i wanted to be first

but yes, hi five
o/*\o

2/21/2008 3:56:12 PM

touche wolfweb, touche! the hot tub stays empty

2/21/2008 3:56:21 PM

Next time you'll know not to post your bizness on TWW

2/21/2008 3:58:00 PM

It has been 125 days since this thread was made!

2/21/2008 4:00:41 PM

how many days of aqua we got left?

2/21/2008 4:38:29 PM

Quote :

""apparently it is illegal in NC (and most states) to use greywater for anything, even irrigation. i always had this thought of collecting bath water in large containers and using that to water your lawn, but it appears that is not safe." What? How about a link to back that up. I'm almost positive it's done. Its just rare. If you're right about it, I want to know."

Man, 'tis true, it's against the law in NC to use greywater to water your lawn. I think the official reason is because it could release bacteria and mess into the environment. You can use it to flush your toilets, though.

[Edited on February 21, 2008 at 4:48 PM. Reason : V that's what I be saying]

2/21/2008 4:42:12 PM

attn: stantheman

Quote :

"The North Carolina Plumbing Code defines gray water as “waste discharged from lavatories, bathtubs, showers, clothes washers and laundry sinks.” This type of household wastewater may contain disease-producing organisms and should not be used to water plants such as trees, vegetable gardens or flowers. By law, this wastewater must be disposed of through a permitted treatment system, either a public owned treatment plant or a permitted septic tank system."

http://www.wakegov.com/water/wastewater/graywater.htm

2/21/2008 4:43:30 PM

So how many years of drought does it take for the new more arid conditions to be considered the norm?
If the news always says we are behind the norm, then maybe the "norm" is wrong. Maybe we can just define the drought away. Just redefine this area as a desert. Problem solved.

2/21/2008 4:54:06 PM

Haha ,well to be fair I think a lot of the years on record alternated between hurricane-hit years and non-hurricane hit years. As of late we haven't seen any inland rainfall from hurricanes or tropical storms (we might've had one last fall?), so we're entering the "normal" weather pattern for the state. Unfortunately we were planning off of the "with hurricanes pretty often" idea when we designed our reservoirs so now we are getting to the panic point of "oh god we aren't going to GET any storms significant enough to refill the reservoirs!" which will inevitably result in a declaration of emergency by the governor should the situation not improve.

Man that's a run-on sentence. Anyway, we'll consider it a drought as long as we have to since it's all based off of retarded statistics that don't have a very long history to go off of. The only thing that will change will be our consistent policies on water usage and management and our water planning for the future.

Only reason I'm saying all this is because a guy in our CE383 class from the NC Drought Advisory Board (or whatever the hell it was) basically said all the same things I'm saying here in his presentation today. He was not optimistic about Raleigh's water supply through the summer, and basically said Raleigh is going to need to run a temporary overland pipeline straight to Jordan lake and its other backup options or else they will run out of water this summer (without significant precipitation changes to hold us over). He said Jordan lake would be full by about May 1st this year. It's all about the watershed size... Yeah whatever. I'm speaking on stuff I'm half-knowledgeable about so if anybody wants to drop more learned science feel free to do so.

2/21/2008 5:28:11 PM

Neuse River Basin:
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/basinwide/whichbasinneuse.htm
Basically all that fills Falls Lake is what is in the sub-basin in the upper left


Cape Fear River Basin:
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/basinwide/whichbasincapefear.htm
You can see Jordan Lake just below Durham and how there is a much larger area upstream of it.

2/22/2008 10:51:10 AM

CharlesHF said: If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down.


That would be so funny, if it wasn't an actual policy I've heard quoted by residents of dorms at UNC in reference to their on-hall bathrooms.

2/22/2008 11:07:46 AM

Quote :

"Man, 'tis true, it's against the law in NC to use greywater to water your lawn. I think the official reason is because it could release bacteria and mess into the environment. You can use it to flush your toilets, though."

then why does cary supply grey water to houses for irrigation use?

2/22/2008 11:22:22 AM

I found our bill last night and saw that we used 10 units, so I came back to this thread and saw what a unit was and figured we used around 7490 gallons. Except I thought it was for one month instead of two. And I was all, "WTF, how the hell do we use 250 gallons every day???"

But it turns out we're pretty normal. Time to see how much I can get us down to.

2/22/2008 11:26:19 AM

Quote :

"then why does cary supply grey water to houses for irrigation use?"

i am not sure of this, but i remember a while back on the news seeing that some town (probably cary) was going to or has put in two water supplies to each house - one for consumption, and one for irrigation. the irrigation line was NOT greywater, it just hadn't been treated as much as the drinking supply so it was cheaper.

2/22/2008 12:57:40 PM

Quote :

"AKSnoopy Veteran 498 Posts user info edit post Anyone know what the laws are pertaining to places that run pools during the summer? It would suck to not have my pool job 2/21/2008 12:41:04 PM Oeuvre All American 4793 Posts user info edit post can't fill them. 2/21/2008 12:47:33 PM"

what about apartment complexes that have pools?

2/22/2008 1:05:09 PM

so even though it's supposedly illegal, would it REALLY hurt anything for me to rig my shower drain to my irrigation system?

2/22/2008 1:25:00 PM

^^notice that a lot of apartments left their pools full over the winter.

2/22/2008 1:25:34 PM

^^ I say go for it. It'll probably be a pretty slow crime day if the police bust you for that.

2/22/2008 2:02:53 PM

well i didn't mean would it hurt anything legally... i meant is there anything biologically hazardous about using shower water to water my lawn? (obviously it wouldn't be as bad as toilet water.)

2/22/2008 2:05:33 PM

Quote :

"The Facts Fact #1: Using untreated wastewater for watering is both illegal and unhealthy. Throwing untreated, household wastewater on top of the ground in North Carolina is illegal as it is considered sewage by law and must be disposed of through a permitted sewage treatment system. It is also considered unhealthy to use untreated wastewater for any other uses that might bring it in contact with humans. Although soaps are used in the dish and bath water, it is still wastewater as is water from washing your vegetables, dishes, hands, body or clothing. These types of wastewaters may contain disease-producing organisms, called pathogens, from fecal material or from on the body (e.g. staph), which are infectious! Waste has always been buried or disposed of in other ways for basic human sanitation. Countries that do not dispose of wastes away from human contact have higher disease rates and sometimes epidemics. Fact #2: Untreated wastewater attracts animals and pests that can spread diseases. People are not the only animals in North Carolina looking for water sources during a drought. Flies, pets, wildlife and other animals that transport diseases would be attracted to water that someone tossed on the ground. When these transport animals touch and drink the wastewater, they become contaminated and may get sick. They may also spread the disease-causing germs to local residents and the community. Gray water can be recycled for home use. According to the 2006 N.C. Plumbing Code, treated household gray water may be permitted for use for specific purposes if treated according to Code Standards. In Appendix C, Section C101.1 allows for recycled gray water to be used for flushing of toilets that are located in the same building as the gray water recycling systems. These recycling systems can also be used for irrigation purposes when approved by the authority having jurisdiction. Appendix C includes information regarding the installation, filtration, disinfection, drainage and identification of gray water recycling systems.Gray water used in a gray water recycling system must be filtered and disinfected before it can be recycled for flushing of toilets or irrigation as stated in Appendix C. "

again... http://www.wakegov.com/water/wastewater/graywater.htm

2/22/2008 2:18:45 PM

you can still add water to pools as required to properly run the pool, just not fill an empty pool. most commercial pools are maintained in the winter with balanced water, but even if you filled every commercial pool in the county you are only talking about a day or two of the city's water usage.

and even if your pool is empty, there is still the option of trucking it in or filling from a well if you have one. the counties around atlanta just lifted the pool filling ban, hopefully we will follow.

2/22/2008 5:13:18 PM

Quote :

"then why does cary supply grey water to houses for irrigation use?"

they don't . . . they supply treated wastewater to be used for irrigation. You can get treated wastewater from raleigh for free if you are willing to haul it.

2/22/2008 5:41:20 PM

Jordan Lake is apparently past full

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2473645/

Quote :

"Updated: Today at 7:00 p.m. Durham, N.C. — Unlike Falls Lake north of Raleigh or parched reservoirs in Durham, Jordan Lake is filled to capacity, and several counties and municipalities are looking for ways to lap up the lake's water to quench their growing thirst. Experts say Jordan Lake is almost a foot higher than what it is when technically full. Meanwhile, Falls Lake, Raleigh's primary reservoir, is about 8 feet below normal levels, and Lake Michie and the Little River Reservoir, Durham's main sources of drinking water, are about 3½ and 20 feet below normal, respectively. "

2/22/2008 9:46:58 PM

You think Pepsi will stop bottling aquafina out of falls and we'll get rid of the largest user of water in the system once it's "empty"?

I sure hope so. I cant believe they havent told Pepsi to go elsewhere. But no $$ is more important than residents having drinking water.


So glad I wont be buying a house on Raleigh's water system. I refuse to.

2/23/2008 4:21:49 PM

Quote :

"When it comes to buying water, Raleigh might as well be an island. The city lacks both the connections and agreements that Gov. Mike Easley and other state water managers say are essential to surviving the drought. Raleigh has just one emergency water agreement -- with hard-pressed Durham -- the same number the capital city had before the drought began in May. Raleigh suddenly finds itself a buyer in a market where it's always been a seller. "The irony is we have an emergency agreement between ourselves and Durham, but we don't have the infrastructure," said Dale Crisp, the city's public utilities director. Durham's is perhaps the one Triangle water system with less water than Raleigh's, and it couldn't sell water to the Capital City even if the pipes were in place to do so. More than a month ago, Easley spoke to Crisp and managers from 29 other water systems hit hardest by the drought at a workshop in Greensboro. The governor said their first priority should be to establish emergency interconnections with neighboring water systems that could be tapped this summer as a last resort. "Get connected now," Easley said. Ten months into the drought, Raleigh appears particularly isolated compared to its neighbors to the west. The Orange Water and Sewer Authority, Durham, Chatham County and Hillsborough can all send and receive a million or more gallons of water a day to each other. John Greene, OWASA general manager of operations, said the connections are like a wheel. "You start with a hub and then follow the spokes out," Greene said. "You keep adding players, depending on how the distribution area changes." Vicki Westbrook, Durham's deputy water manager, said Durham has pushed up the construction of a second connection to Cary, which should be completed this summer. Durham buys about 2 million gallons a day from Cary. Durham's long-term plan also calls for two connections to Raleigh, but those are not under way. Raleigh hopes to complete its engineering review and begin negotiating an emergency purchase agreement with Cary by March 1. Cary draws from Jordan Lake and is the one neighbor that may be capable of selling the city significant amounts of water. Changing the flow The absence of emergency connections is another sign that Raleigh has historically never needed water. Though the city has connections with Cary, Holly Springs and Johnston County, water can flow only from Raleigh. Crisp said making those connections two-way is not just a matter of turning the meter around and flipping a switch. Raleigh has to pump water up to Cary because it is at a higher elevation than the point in West Raleigh where the systems are connected. Reversing the flow would require a control valve to ensure that water pressure in both systems is not affected. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said it's unrealistic to expect the Cary connection to supply anywhere near the roughly 40 million gallons a day the city currently consumes. "The thought would be two to five million gallons depending on Cary's capacity and approval from [the state]," he said. Any transfer of more than 2 million gallons of water from Cary to Raleigh would be considered an "inter-basin transfer," and thus require approval from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Easley said last month that the state would expedite the inter-basin transfer permitting process during the drought. It pays to have friends Raleigh learned firsthand the value of being interconnected last week when the town of Holly Springs agreed to stop buying 300,000 gallons of water a day from the city. Holly Springs now gets all its water from Harnett County, which draws from the much-larger Cape Fear River. Fuquay-Varina, another Wake town with a water connection to Raleigh, also now purchases almost all of its water from Harnett County. Johnston County can purchase water from at least a half dozen other systems, and engineers are currently finishing a new connection with Wilson County. Tim Broome, the county's director of infrastructure, estimated those connections add up to about two-thirds of the 10 million gallons a day the county typically uses. "You can never have enough friends in this business," Broome said. (Staff writer Anne Blythe contributed to this report.) "

http://www.newsobserver.com/weather/drought/story/963087.html

2/28/2008 12:43:46 PM

yeah . . . I def. get the impression that if Raleigh does run out of water the people who run the city would be running around like a chicken with its head cut off and be like "well we didn't do anything because we thought it was inconceivable that we would actually run out of water"

2/28/2008 12:54:02 PM

Quote :

"When it comes to buying water, Raleigh might as well be an island."

It's been a while since geography...but aren't islands surrounded by the wet stuff?

2/28/2008 12:57:34 PM

^ "water, water everywhere. but not a drop to drink".

2/28/2008 1:04:59 PM