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Why
Water Conservation is Important
The odd /
even water sprinkling ordinance was adopted by the Board of Commissioners during
the late 1980’s in response to regulatory action undertaken by Nassau County.
Habitual violators of the county and water district ordinance can be subject to
a $50 fine from the local police department. Since the promulgation and
enforcement of the odd / even sprinkling regulation over 14 years ago, we have
found the ordinance to be a valuable water resource management tool. It has been
determined that outdoor water use is more uniformly distributed with the odd /
even irrigation ordinance. This subsequently reduces peak water demand
significantly which results in far reaching environmental, financial and
operational benefits for the district and the community. Water
conservation has been a priority program for the Board of Commissioners as a
means to promote and educate the community on the importance of our water supply
on Long Island. The ultimate goal of the aforementioned ordinance is to promote
the proper and efficient use of our most precious natural resource. Water use
associated with outdoor activities, such as lawn irrigation, increases by 50 to
100 percent during the warm weather months. Studies disseminated by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County have concluded that lawns on Long Island
tend to be over irrigated. It has been determined that the irrigation of lawns
every other day at a rate of 1 inch per week is sufficient for most areas of
Nassau County. Furthermore, the local extension service has found that over
irrigation will promote lawn disease and shallow root development. For more
information on “environmentally friendly” lawn care options, we recommend
that you contact the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County at 454-0900. Because of the significant water use associated with lawn irrigation, the Board of Commissioners identified odd/ even sprinkling as a logical and simple approach to promote the efficient use of our drinking water supply. At present there is no shortage of drinking water on Long Island. However because of the long term planning vision of the Board of Commissioners, the water district has undertaken progressive water conservation measures to ensure that future generations within the community will have a safe and adequate supply of reasonably priced drinking water. Aside from the obvious environmental benefit of the ordinance, there are also financial and operational advantages to the water district. Since the implementation of the odd / even sprinkling ordinance, maximum day pumpage has been reduced by approximately 16 percent. This translates into a savings of 2.0 million gallons per day, which is equivalent to the production of a typical public water supply well. Historical maximum day pumpage rates are used to determine a water supplier’s needs under peak and emergency demand conditions. Because of the significant reduction in maximum day pumpage, the water district is not required to construct another supply well at this time. This yields a savings of approximately $1 million to the water consumers of the community. Less pumpage, particularly under peak conditions allows the water district to better manage pumpage from its supply wells thereby reducing stress on the local aquifer. This also insures that an ample supply of water will be available during an emergency. Better pumpage management also assists with addressing water quality concerns. The less stress that is placed on the local aquifer segment reduces the potential for drawing contaminants deeper into the groundwater system. It should be noted that water conservation will also help reduce electrical demand. This is because the deep well pumps utilized by the Plainview Water District to distribute water rely on a significant amount of electric power. High capacity electric pump motors, ranging in capacity from 60 to 200 horsepower, provide the primary power required to draw water from the aquifer and ultimately to the home. Efficient and wise use of our precious drinking water supply will lower electric demand on the water district and ultimately on the power system maintained by the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). Not only does the reduction in power demand improve electric system reliability it also has far reaching environmental benefits.
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