# Las Vegas and Conserving Water **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201 "2021-01-10T19:46:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/61 "2021-01-17T15:42:19Z")
I’m swimming in the rain… 🎵 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/62 "2021-01-17T17:13:00Z")
The point is, if you’re not watering your lawn, what are you using your rainbarrel for? There aren’t many uses you can put non-potable water to, and most of them would require more extensive plumbing than most people will have installed. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/63 "2021-01-17T19:11:41Z")
The sensible situation would be that you can use the rainbarrel for watering purposes until such point as water-shortages are declared. The use of it in that way would hopefully minimise the need to call a shortage in the first place. In the UK, when drought conditions are called it is often the case that you can continue to water gardens by the use of a watering can. That minimises demand. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/64 "2021-01-18T04:29:40Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I understand Las Vegas has a nearly closed loop with Lake Mead. Vegas municipal and onsite wastewater systems all eventually go back to Lake Mead because the soil is so permeable and Lake Mead is downhill. It’s actually an efficient system, because the soil removes pathogens and nutrient contaminants like nitrogen. This isn’t easily replicated in other areas. But in Vegas, if the money is there, so is the water. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/65 "2021-01-19T21:14:26Z")
Our greywater toilet system is ridiculously simple, plumbing-wise. Installing it only involved one new hole in the wall. All the rest is outside by the tanks. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/66 "2021-01-20T01:25:55Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > In the UK, when drought conditions are called it is often the case that you can continue to water gardens by the use of a watering can. That minimises demand. Vegas gets around 10cm average annual precipitation. So using a watering can for the gardens probably won’t make much difference there. Rainwater collection really doesn’t work well in the desert either because it’s difficult to store enough to make any difference. Most homes don’t use enough water to keep a lawn green, even with an efficient water recycling system. Xeriscape is a better option. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/67 "2021-01-20T01:32:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Our greywater toilet system is ridiculously simple, plumbing-wise. Installing it only involved one new hole in the wall. All the rest is outside by the tanks. What do you mean by a greywater toilet system? Greywater doesn’t include toilet water; that’s called black water, which has much more potential for containing pathogens than wash and shower water (greywater). Typically, a new-hole-in-the-wall system is just piping shit to the ditch, or worse. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/68 "2021-01-20T01:35:14Z")
Agreed x 1000. We’re way, way too used to abundance, and it’s going bite us in the ass. My fellow Yankees, if you want a look at the future, look at the migrant caravan that’s going to be arriving within the next few weeks. That is our future – hundreds of millions of people running away from climate change. Not to mention, our own infrastructure will eventually struggle to meet the needs of the population already here. This is not uniquely an American problem, of course, but climate change is going to ‘rock our shit’ much, much more than fake news on Facegram. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/69 "2021-01-20T01:43:16Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > What do you mean by a greywater toilet system? He’s talking about using greywater to flush toilets. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/70 "2021-01-20T01:53:31Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > He’s talking about using greywater to flush toilets. Using greywater for flushing toilets is not a bad idea. But it’s much more complicated than a new hole in the wall. Greywater first has to be separated, stored, and then pumped back into the home. This requires duplicate plumbing for sinks, showers, washing machines, etc. It’s very important to isolate greywater from potable water with back-flow devices. On the other hand, I piss outside on trees whenever I can. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/71 "2021-01-20T02:17:39Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > What do you mean by a greywater toilet system? One possible example—I saw this on a tiny home program but I think some places overseas use them. Instead of standard lid on your toilet tank, they have a faucet up there. Wash your hands and that soapy water drops into the tank. Flush the toilet and you’re using that grey water a second time. > **[Dual Flush Toilet Is a Sink and Greywater System in One](https://inhabitat.com/dual-flush-toilet-is-a-sink-and-greywater-system-in-one/)** > > Hopefully most of us already have low water flow toilets installed in our homes, but what about all-in-one greywater systems? The Caroma Profile Smart Dual Flush is a 2-in-1 sink and toilet system that implements graywater recycling in a neat compact... IIRC I saw a program about problems caused by drilling for water. As they pumped it out, houses in the subdivision were sinking due to the sinkholes created. I could have sworn it was in the Las Vegas area, but I haven’t found video of it. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/72 "2021-01-20T02:38:04Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > One possible example—I saw this on a tiny home program but I think some places overseas use them. Instead of standard lid on your toilet tank, they have a faucet up there. Wash your hands and that soapy water drops into the tank. Flush the toilet and you’re using that grey water a second time. I’ve seen this. The problem is convincing people to go to the toilet to wash their hands. There is technology currently being developed to recycle all the wastewater from a home for water reuse. In places like Australia, this can be economical because during their frequent droughts, they don’t have a better choice. Currently, in most places in the US and Europe, it’s less expensive to use potable water to flush toilets than to build a dual greywater-blackwater system. For some arid regions though, it makes sense to invest in this technology. I think as the technology progresses, water reuse will be the norm everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/73 "2021-01-20T03:04:21Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > The problem is convincing people to go to the toilet to wash their hands. ??? It’s for washing your hands after using the toilet. You shouldn’t use it otherwise because you’d be flushing the toilet just to get the sink to run, which is a big waste. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/74 "2021-01-20T03:26:19Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > Using greywater for flushing toilets is not a bad idea. But it’s much more complicated than a new hole in the wall. Greywater first has to be separated, stored, and then pumped back into the home. I think @MrDibble is talking about collecting rainwater and using it to flush toilets. It’s simple to install a pipe from the rainwater tank to the inlet of the toilet cistern. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/75 "2021-01-20T03:40:35Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > ??? It’s for washing your hands after using the toilet. You shouldn’t use it otherwise because you’d be flushing the toilet just to get the sink to run, which is a big waste. If it’s just for washing your hands after using the toilet, the amount of wash water added to the system is very small. That would mostly be just a ‘feel good’ thing, not really worth the cost for the hybrid toilet modification. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/76 "2021-01-20T04:07:25Z")
Also, it seems like it would be awkward to stand next to the toilet to wash your hands. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/77 "2021-01-20T04:39:58Z")
Or over it. If you sit facing the tank like you’re supposed to ( 😉 ) then you don’t even have to stand up to flush and wash your hands. These seem to have taller tanks and shorter bowls so maybe it’s not so awkward. Still, you’re washing with cold water, which can be anything from a minor annoyance to actually painful. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/78 "2021-01-20T06:34:28Z")
Sorry if that was confusing - we call non-municipal water systems “greywater systems” generically. Greywater is the non-sewer-water output from the house system - bathwater, sink water and outlets from the washing machine and dishwasher. The rainwater we capture feeds into that system in two ways - into the washing machines, and into the toilet. Then the greywater can either go into the cistern as well, or to water the garden. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/79 "2021-01-20T06:40:18Z")
It’s a bit misleading to see it primarily in reference to America accepting climate refugee immigrants. America is going to generate _plenty_ of its own internal climate refugees as well. Enough to make the Dustbowl Days seem like a picnic in comparison.It won’t be a case of infrastructure struggling, it will be a case of places just being uninhabitable (or ceasing to exist) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201/80 "2021-01-20T06:43:35Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > This requires duplicate plumbing for sinks, showers, washing machines, etc. No, we just have one pipe from where all that outflow would have been going into the sewer line. The only duplicate is into the toilet (singular) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/las-vegas-and-conserving-water/930201.md?page=5)