Drop by precious drop

The program was about as timely as it gets.

With Rockdale residents, and businesses, faced with substantial increases in their water rates, starting with the April billing and continuing for years, water conservation is a popular topic.

Doug Box of the Post Oak Savannah Groundwater Conservation District presented a conservation program Thursday at the city library.

Box said approaches, large and small, can help alleviate the impact of water bills on families and businesses.

REBATE—The most ambitious approach would be to install a rainwater collecting system, and the POSGCD has a reimbursement program for those who do so, if they apply and pass district guidelines.

It’s estimated capturing just one inch of rainfall over 1,000 square foot yields about 600 gallons of water per year.

Rockdale’s annual rainfall over the past 94 years is 33 inches.

Box noted rainwater can be used for lawn and gardens and conserves aquifer water for drinking.

Potential applicants must first attend a Rainfall Harvester Workshop. The next one is set for 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, March 22, at the POSGCD office in Milano.

The program is only for those persons residing in the water district, Milam and Burleson counties.

After completing the course, a design of the projected collection system must be approved by the POSGCD.

Once the system is finished it must be inspected by the district, then a rebate will be issued.

Reimbursements are limited to $1 per gallon of storage in the completed system, with a maximum of $3,000 awarded one household per lifetime.

More information is available at https://posgcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Water-Wizard-Water-Conservation-Tips.pdf.

EVERY DAY—There are also every day actions which can assist residents in conserving water.

Probably the largest indoor water waster is the most necessary facility in the home, the toilet.

According to the POSGCD, toilets use 26 percent of the water in a house. The district notes “the single best thing you can do to improve toilet efficiency is to replace an old, inefficient toilet with a new one.”

Here are some general every day tips:

• Check your toilet for leaks by adding a few drops of food coloring to the tank and seeing if the bowl water changes color.

• Make sure you have installed a water-efficient shower head in all of your bathrooms.

• Operate your washer only with full loads.

• Run the dishwasher only when it is full.

• Don’t run the water continually while brushing your teeth or shaving.

• When watering lawns, avoid oscillating sprinklers and sprinkler heads which produce fine mist. Drip and soaker systems are much more efficient.

Those are just a few of two entire pages of conservation tips which can be found at https://posgcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Water-Wizard-Water-Conservation-Tips.pdf.