Tips To Save Water In Your Home

The need to save water has finally become a high priority. Thank God.

If we waste much more water, our children could well die of thirst.

There is only so much water in this old world, and much of that is seawater or solid ice. The rest has been used and renewed by nature again and again over the centuries, but our recent lack of appreciation and lack of concern for pollution have threatened this limited resource.

There is plenty of water for everyone and every need. God saw to that. But when people decide one household needs the share of a village, things get out of hand.

When I wrote my book about xeriscaping for Florida homes more than a decade ago, a third of the people in the world did not have access to a safe and reliable source of drinking water.

In history, wars have been caused by disagreements over water rights.

Some of us older people remember living in - or at least visiting - homes where water came from outdoor pumps and had to be carried inside and heated as needed. Then it had to be carried back out after it was used.

One man told me that was one of the reasons the bushes and other vegetation around his house were much more lush than those further away. Most times, dishwater or bathwater was dumped on the flowers by the back door or just off the porch.

It would be a great idea to have camps where young people would go for at least one weekend, use an outhouse, carry the water they use and gain an appreciation for how all people lived until less than 100 years ago. It would help them realize how precious water is.

Here are some ways you can save water in the home while making reasonable and livable adjustments:

•Take short showers - aim for three minutes, or shallow baths - aim for three inches. If you must soap and sing, turn off the water until you are ready for a quick rinse.

•When you find a water leak in your home, fix it or call a plumber right away. One drop a second wastes 200 gallons of water a month. The leak adds costs to your water and sewer bills or can strain your septic system.

•Listen for running water, and satisfy your mind when you find the source. Teach children the importance of saving water, and encourage them to help you conserve. They may be the ones to hear the water running first.

•Save your water bills, and try to shrink them. If they go up, find a good reason - like the garden needs more water in May than in December, or the daughter in college was home that month.

•If you are staying in a motel for several days, let the housekeeper know in writing that you do not want clean sheets every day. What a waste of wash water!

•Buy only products you really need. Besides the water we use directly, a great deal of water is needed for all aspects of manufacturing.

•Eat less meat. It takes several times as much water to produce meat as it does to grow fruits and vegetables. I'll be the last one on Earth to give up meat altogether, but I don't mind shifting the emphasis a bit - especially when Florida offers such a bounty of fruits and vegetables.

•Save any water from running down the drain when there may be another use for it, like watering plants, cleaning the floor, or carrying it outdoors to the birdbath or your favorite tree. Keep a bucket beside your sink and in your shower.

•Thank God for giving us an abundance of water, the skill to pipe it into our homes and the common sense to make it last.

Today's Pick

Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare, is an herb good for cut flowers, salads, soups, as a garnish or tea, to make a yellow to brown dye and in cosmetics and steam facials. It also is a larval host plant for the black swallowtail butterfly. The name in Greek means "to grow thin," and chewing the seeds, stalks or leaves is supposed to suppress the appetite.

The plant is attractive, with tall, feathery foliage, much like dill, in bright green or bronze. Clumps can grow 3 to 5 feet tall, though they will stay much smaller in containers or window boxes.

Florence fennel grows only 2 to 3 feet tall and has a large, blanched bulb called finocchio at the base of the stem. It can be cut into sticks like fresh celery or shredded for slaw. The entire plant has a sweet, mild flavor. Fennel tastes less like licorice than it smells, more like a nuttier anise. In cooking, the flavor resembles fresh tarragon. All parts are edible. Leaves can be used the moment the plant is large enough to spare them. You also can hang them in small bunches to dry, then crumble them to store in spice jars. Fennel may or may not die out in the summer, so harvest amply before the rains come. The plants like full sun to partial shade and are drought tolerant, though they respond well to occasional watering.

Now's The Time To ...

•Check www.swfwmd .state.fl.us/conservation /restrictions/phase4.html for complete water restrictions now being enforced.

•Thank Gordon Pitcher, who sent this tip for taking the tangle out of that long electric cord to my blower and chainsaw. It came from his friend, Al Ayers of Tampa. Start with a 5-gallon bucket, even a paint bucket will do. Make a hole in the bottom edge or center through which to pass the plug of the extension cord. Plug the cord into the wall socket. Then place a rock, brick or other heavy object in the bucket on top of the cord to retain the distance to the wall outlet. With the cord strung out as it would be after using, place the cord in the bucket as fast as your hands can go. The cord will never tangle and will be neatly stored until needed.

•Be thankful for the rain that we got and pray for more. But be ready for two of our driest months with the days getting hotter and longer all the time. Don't panic. Many plants like this. And don't water what is thriving without it.

Upcoming Events

•The University of Florida Botanical Gardens Spring Plant Festival will be Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. More than 70 vendors will participate. A free children's area with fun activities will be open for youths of all ages. On Sunday, there will be an Easter egg hunt. Admission is $5 for the general public, free to USF Botanical Garden members and children younger than age 12. Dogs will not be allowed until further notice.

•There will be a Micro-Irrigation Retrofit Workshop at the Tampa Garden Club, 2629 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday and at the New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd., Tampa, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. May 9. Learn how to convert a traditional irrigation system into a more water-efficient micro-irrigation system. Hillsborough county residents will receive one free retrofit kit per household. Seating is limited, and preregistration is required. Call (813) 744-5519, Ext. 144, or e-mail CarverMS@Hillsborough County.org.