In Ottawa currently we are in the midst of drought-like conditions, where we have not had rain for many weeks, and haven’t had a lot really since March (in general). I have talked about the joys of no water with Living Without Water (a few years back we had a water main break and our section of town had to ration our water), and this year our lawn looks even crunchier than back then. There is hope that we might get rain today (but one day will not break this drought).
Our house has a water barrel left over from our water rationing time, so I have used that to water our plants, however that is now bone dry as well. If we are lucky we might get a cloud burst and that might help refill the barrel, but we haven’t even had a cloudburst lately.
What is interesting is that Ontario Hydro went to a “smart meter” to have variable rates to try to regulate peak hour usage, which made me wonder if the City of Ottawa ever thought of going in that direction for water usage?
Simply raising water taxes over and over to improve the system, seems unfair, why not get the big users, at the worst time pay more? Then you could raise rates during droughts too (to try to regulate usage).
Some of my neighbours are joyfully oblivious to the drought that we are in, and gladly water their lawns , pressure wash their driveways and wash their cars, with no consequences for these actions.
Should I care about my neighbours and their odd water usage ideas during a time of limited water? I suppose I should not, but it really does seem to get under my skin. I do want to ask the chap who pressure washes his driveway, “Why do you do this ?”
Can anyone enlighten me as to why someone might pressure wash their driveway? I understand if you are about to seal it, but washing it every week does seem quite odd to me.
There you go City of Ottawa, you want to make some big bucks ? Smart water meters and variable water usage rates! You are welcome!
I hate that people water their lawns, especially during dry times like this. Everybody’s lawn looks bad, why must you have a green one? In fact if every lawn is brown except one it is the green one that looks bad and out of place. We have a water ban on now but our small town has no by-law enforcement officers so the worst offenders continue to water their lawns freely.
And pressure washing a driveway? Unless you are driving a $100,000 car or are sealing it there is absolutely no need for that. Some people just don’t care.
“…however wasting water during a drought always makes me scratch my head.”
I hear ya.
Wasting water anytime, is a waste. People take this stuff for granted. In another 50 years, they won’t.
Actually, people in Ottawa are being encouraged to water their lawns to avoid brush fires. Ottawa gets its water from the Ottawa River, which has plenty of capacity to handle our water usage. It is the people who are on the Rideau River that must ration their water usage.
I read that and scratched my head a little. Given I am near the brush fires burning in Ottawa, I guess it makes sense, however wasting water during a drought always makes me scratch my head.
Lack of Accountability = Very Few People Care.
Hand out a few $200 fines and suddenly people won’t waste so much.
Well, as Josh pointed out evidently we are SUPPOSED to waste water in Ottawa, now that sounds more like our Municipal Government…