Will the Atlanta area have sufficient water? This question is regularly asked in any regional planning sessions. The answer depends on many “ifs.”Will the water level of Lake Lanier rise to normal full pool?Will the courts allow the Atlanta region to rely on the lake for its water supply, or will the mussels in Appalachicola Bay have precedence over our water needs?Will we get sufficient rain? Will there be any new reservoirs to serve our metro region?
With so many uncertainties water conservation is the only certain tool we have now to address a sufficient supply for the continued economic health of the Atlanta region. At recent Council meetings, the City of Sandy Springs has considered new measures that will help us all conserve water.
While most of us assume outside watering is our greatest water usage, actually it is toilet flushing that consumes the greatest percentage of water—35 percent of household water use. This fact presents us with the greatest possibility of conserving water by installing new commodes that need only 1.6-gallons per flush as opposed to the old ones consuming 3.5-7-gallons per flush. The retrofit program provides rebates to help us finance this retrofit.
To receive a rebate, Atlanta water/sewer customers must:
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Own/rent a residence that was built prior to 1993 and have fixtures not currently in compliance with current water efficiency plumbing code standards.
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Have a water account in good standing.
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Purchase and install a toilet from an approved list of 1.6- or 1.28-gallon per flush toilets.
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Provide the Metropolitan North GeorgiaWater Planning District with their most recent water/sewer bill.
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Provide the Metropolitan North GeorgiaWater Planning District with proof of purchase (showing make, model, flow rate and installation.)
There are other easy measures to help us conserve water, and the free kits to do so are available from the AtlantaWatershed Management Department or they will be available at City Hall in the near future. Included are a low-flow shower head easily installed by homeowners, toilet dye tablets to allow one to check whether the flushing mechanism is leaking and kitchen and bath faucet aerators that reduce water consumption from those sources. The City of Sandy Springs has already mandated that new multifamily construction must include separate meters for each unit. Another change requires rain sensors on new installations of irrigation systems. (How infuriating is it to see sprinklers going on a rainy day when you have been extremely responsible on the watering restrictions!)
New car wash establishments will have to recycle the water they use. Fortunately, as an excellent promotion policy, most car washes have already installed these systems.
These and other measures are the easy steps in water conservation that should be adopted by everyone. More strenuous measures may be needed in the future, such as the recycling of our water. This does not refer to recycling your own water in your own house, but rather central recycling with water being returned to a new public treatment facility that then returns the water for consumption. Such new infrastructure would be very expensive, and it behooves everyone to take the easy steps outlined above to stretch our water supply as far as possible.
Mayor Eva Galambos, PhD
City of Sandy Springs