High efficiency Californiaquistan shower heads

[sudsmaster]

I went to school in the Sacramento Valley in the 70's and at that time there were huge flooded fields on either side of HWY 80. I found out those are for growing rice. I have no idea if rice is still being grown there, but WTF, the proper spot to grow rice is in the Southeast where's there's plenty of rain and water. I suspect the California rice fields are a major, if not the major, waste of agricultural water.

In terms of governance, I suspect California is not worse than most of the other states in the nation. And probably much better than some when it comes to corruption and waste. I won't say which, not here.

 

[ea56]

Heres the CalRice website link. Rice production in California provides 25,000 jobs and 5 billion dollars to the economy. It’s the second largest producer of rice in the United States and its Mediterranean climate is uniquely suited to the growing of rice according to Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_...der rice cultivation to meet this requirement.

The water from the flooded fields eventually goes back into the water table. People have to eat don’t they?

Eddie

https://calrice.org/industry/how-rice-grows/

 

[tolivac]

PLENTY of water out in Eastern NC-In fact we are under a tropical storm warning for Claudette.Supposed to get several inches of rain!My yard will be a swamp!Drainage ditches will be full-possibly flowing onto the roads.Should be a wet ride to work tomorrow night!

 

[firedome]

It's time...

for an end to subsidized wasteful ditch irrigation and ubiquitous and frivolous pools and fountains in places like CA and AZ, and aquifer depleting center-pivot irrigation in parts of states like Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Ag production requiring dependable water should be concentrated in states with decent natural rainfall. Locating 5000 cow dairies and alfalfa, sugar beet, and other water-intensive crop production in dry states with chronic water shortages is beyond absurd, that type of Ag production should be centered in the Northeast, Eastern Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic where irrigation is not typically necessary, it's just common sense.

 

[egress]

agreed. put the solar farms & stuff in the D E S E R T, and put the agriculture where it rains. It makes a whole lot more sense.

as for desalination plants, they're kinda bad?
They use a ton of energy, and while they do produce drinkable water they also discharge highly concentrated brine back into the ocean which can create dead zones where fish cant survive due to the high salinity, and also the water is often warm, lowering the dissolved oxygen levels which also creates dead zones. per my understanding, the best option is to recognize that its a desert, and move stuff with high water demand (agriculture) out of the state.

 

[arbilab]

Speaking of the Maher show, he's no saint of rectitude. 

IOW, he's not always right despite his fervent wish to be considered so.

 

This week he railed on web media for deleting certain references to ivermectin (drug), which he seems to think he needs to know something about.  I wondered what the hell he was talking about.  My memory of ivermectin was it's something ranchers shoot up a cow's butt to kill worms.  And it is.  <span style="font-size: 10pt;">[Don't ask what the hell triggers my memory of such things; it just does.]</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It's also something you don't give collies or turtles, it kills them.  In humans and most vertebrates, doses on the microgram/kg level won't pass the blood-brain barrier in sufficient quantity to do bad things.  Some nutbags from the hydroxychloroquine school of internet miracle cures were gaining traction with ivermectin as a treatment for covid.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It was these latter references that were excised from major web portals as misinformation.  Ivermectin in a dish kills [or at least disables] covid.  The safety of passing it out broadly to humans is deeply in question.  Just what Maher thought he was going to do with any data on ivermectin which he was denied, is also deeply in question.  As is bringing it up in the first place, </span>

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">with no background whatsoever.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Here's the wiki; relatively short and non-technical.  Since I brought it up with scant background, one might otherwise think I'm coming down with Maheritis.  I don't think so, but that's not a medical assessment.</span>

 

<span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivermectin</span>

 

[thomasortega]

@arbilab

What does it have to do with showers?

 

[arbilab]

Maher's take on Calif water runs several frames in the 30s.

 

I ran with his POV, but I don't always.

 

The thread had gone dormant anyway. 

 

Ivermectin also kills pedicules.  Which are not little feet, except in the sense they are.

[this post was last edited: 6/28/2021-12:34]

 

[sarahperdue]

Big puzzle

Devices need to have a good balance between water conservation and doing a satisfactory job. I get a more complete flush when I dump 2 quarts of water from a pitcher into my toilet bowl than any tank toilet. Could a toilet be redesigned to deliver a powerful flush with such a small amount of water? Could that gravity assist design used in early high-tank toilets be adapted to make low water usage modern toilets?

California has both a water shortage and a water mismanagement issue.

It seems like piped instead irrigation, restricting or prohibiting water fountains, enclosing pools, planting and using drought resistant natural landscaping could all reduce water usage.

It seems like the water costs less than it should. Do agricultural operations receive hefty subsidies? If the cost of water accurately reflected supply and demand wouldn't it be cost prohibitive to grow almonds and rice, have irrigated lawns and outdoor swimming pools, etc.?

It's a similar situation in Atlanta. Their population continues to increase despite the inability of the reservoirs to provide for the growth and thus begins the water wars. Georgia begins diverting more than its share of water upstream of Alabama and Florida...you get the picture.

So, here in Alabama, we get lots of rain yet, in my lifetime, farms have been dying all over the state. We have water, we have sun, we have a decently long growing season. What kind of subsidies and other economic factors created a situation where the nation's food crops are grown in an area with severe water shortages and shipped across the country while our farmers lose their land or find other ways to earn a living?

California may be a great place to grow rice, but so is Louisiana where water is plentiful. So it seems to make sense to move the rice and the 25,000 jobs to Louisiana. That is an oversimplification, but it would solve two California problems: overpopulation and water demand.

As with any major industrial change, moving some of the water intensive agriculture to areas where water is more plentiful would be painful but perhaps worth it in the long run.

 

[whitewhiskers]

my new Kohler Shower Head

Just took a shower with my new Kohler Maxton 1.8GPM shower head purchased from Lowes early this morning. It was wonderful. In no way did I feel deprived. My old Delta shower head was ok. Probably 10 years old. The rubber nozzles were falling apart so it was time for a change.

 

[ea56]

Way to go Gary! This is proof that you can conserve water without experiencing deprivation. I hope you’ll get many years of satisfactory use from this new 1.8 gpm shower head.

Eddie

 

[gelaundry4ever]

showerheads

I am so grateful that the showerheads on my dorm have no loss in pressure. The hot water is plentiful here. I can take a 6 minute shower and be done.

 

[sudsmaster]

I find I usually can figure out a way to remove the flow restrictor from just about any faucet attachment or shower head. For showers, my current favorite is labeled a "Sansu", which I got maybe about 10 years ago. It's a handheld. But of course now I cannot find it on-line. It's a 2.5 gal/min, but I see from searching that now California has reduced the allowable flow to 1.8 or less. Again, I'd just yank the flow restrictor, unless that's been made impossible too. So I guess I'll be hanging onto the one I like for as long as possible. My other shower has an Interbath handheld, which I think is older than the Sansu.

Good luck!

 

[gelaundry4ever]

getting much worse

Unfortunately, here we are in 2022 and this whole HE nonsense is getting worse. Leave my showers and laundry room alone!

 

[egress]

sadly we are also running out of fresh water. drought conditions are increasing, and we have to make changes. using less water for laundry and showering is a fine sacrifice so that we may have water year round. if you want to complain, maybe complain about the climate crisis and how we still aren't doing enough to solve it.

 

[ea56]

Re; Reply #54 Thanks!

Well said Marco!

Eddie

 

[qsd-dan]

There really isn't a one answer fits all solution to water issues, it's different for each area.

First of all, water is neither created nor destroyed. Yes, if one lives in an area where water is scarce, it's a good idea to conserve. Even in areas where water is plentiful, it doesn't make sense to needlessly be wasteful. I think we all can agree that areas low on water resources should not have building permits issued. Increasing the population in these areas will eventually lead to disasters. Does anybody see this happening? Nope, gotta expand in order to accumulate more taxes.

In California, residential users only constitutes for 5% of total water used in that state. False propaganda will have them brainwashed that it's 95% but I'll save everybody my personal rants on the matter. I'm not advocating on needlessly wasting water, just something to keep in mind.

Climate change is basically a money laundering scam for the most part, just like most of the wars to keep money rolling into the war machine. The biggest polluters and those that use up the majority of recourses here in the US are the government and corporations....not Joe Sixpack and his family. Again, both of theses institutions heavily propagandize the opposite but I'll just stop here before this gets kicked into the paying forums.

 

[sudsmaster]

OK, so in California, what percent of the water used by agriculture goes through municipal water treatment?

 

I'd guess less than 10%.

 

 

[qsd-dan]

what percent of the water used by agriculture goes through m

Good question, not sure about that one but your guess is probably accurate.

 

[thomasortega]

Again, I think I would be very happy with a 2.5 gal shower head and there's no doubt that it would help me save a lot of water.

The problem.here is that CA went much beyond that, my shower head had a ridiculous flow, I mean, it wasn't enough to have water coming out from all holes.

I didnt even waste my time trying to look for a 2.5 gal shower head because they cannot be shipped to CA because they don't meet the state standards.

As a result, flow restrictor is long gone and for over 1 year I shower with a shower head that looks like a fire hose.

But don't worry, even taking several showers per day, my showers are usually very quick and most of the times I use that pulse massage setting that has only 9 tiny holes (but a wonderful pressure, exactly to save water.