This is not, as some of you may expect a rant about how much I hate water restrictions. I do not, as a general rule, use all that much water. There are only two people living in my house (plus a small dog), how much water can two showers 4 toilet flushes and a couple of minutes of hand/face washing take up?
I know there is more water usage than that (cooking, cleaning, washing, etc), but the point is that the water restrictions that we are under at the moment do not really affect my way of life.
For those that do not know, NSW, Australia is in a pretty bad water shortage at the moment. There were reports of people paying $18,000 for a single truckload of water for their farms. They would, normally, I believe, pay about 10% of that. Our major metropolitan supply dam is at about 60% capacity, and once it gets down to 55% (other Sydney dopers please feel free to correct me on any factual points) water restrictions become mandatory. At the moment, we are under “self regulating” water restrictions. I was reading the other day (sorry, no cite) that the average Sydney home uses 900l of water a day. That seems a little high to me, but I guess when you have 4 kids and two adults, all of whom need showers… but that is just a ridiculous amount when you add every home in the Sydney area. There has got to be nearly a million homes (or more, I honestly do not know).
So the NSW govt. has introduced these water guidlines. No sprinklers or anything like that between 8 and 8, and various other “ideas” that will help us conserve water that is very greatly needed for the firefighters at the moment, and for general use at other times.
Last night while I was walking my (small) dog, approximately 1/3 of the people on our street were out watering their yards! Do they think that the water supply AFTER 8pm comes from a special water-tree or some shit? Most of them also looked like they were trying to be as covert as possible, moving slowly, trying not to be seen. Many looked as though they knew they were doing something wrong, but it did not stop them spilling hundreds of litres into the street, and down the drains. And that’s just from one street. I imagine the dopey fuckers were doing that all over the city.
But it does not stop there… people are still washing their cars on the street as well! I can understand that many people like to have clean cars. My car was washed November 16th, and that was only because I needed a car to get me to my wedding the following afternoon. I think a clean car for that was OK, but we then drove to Dubbo, and my normally dark green car came back more than half white, from the dust on the roads. It’s still there, waiting for the rain to wash it off
I was talking to my neighbour the other day, and she said that “I hate washing my car in water restrictions, but I’m going to <insert place name here>.”
Because they don’t let people with dirty cars in there anymore? What the fuck kind of excuse is that? I am sorry if this is a pretty weak Pit thread, but for fucks sake people, how important can green grass really be? You people are the same ones that will complain the loudest when the water restrictions are more easily enforceable.
Having said that, I do not think that there should not be some exclusions to water restrictions. Places that need water to look after animals, hospitals, places like that should be able to use as much water as they need. I am not even opposed to “public” places such as museums, and parliament house (for example) using the water, as they do need to keep up appearances. But why do we need to use sprinklers on football fields that are only in use between March and September?! (Oh for an interrobang right here). If a council area’s parks are a little brown, do they get kicked out of the club, and become outcast nations with no-one to guide them? Why do we need to hose down pedestrian malls, or the footpath outside a shop? Have we as a collective nation forgotten how to use a fucking BROOM for getting rid of leaves?
And do not get me started on people who need to have 2 inch deep dark green grass for their own sense of self worth? I don’t give a fuck about your orchids, or your rare hungarian butterfly eating plant. Do you think in this heat my dog would not like to be running under a sprinkler in the back yard? I am sure she would love that, but it’s not going to happen. She gets her two large bowls of fresh water every morning, and that’s enough for her to make it until the night, when she gets the water refreshed. (At the moment, her bowls are filling with ash from the bushfires, so we refresh them alot more often)
You’re all fucking assholes, and I’d like to punch each of you in the face personally.