Waterwise Wednesday: Water Business

Water conservation ranks as a “top five” priority for the next decade for 99% of business managers surveyed according to WaterUseitWisely.com.

Try these tips and see how much your business can save:

1. Learn where your company uses water – landscape, restrooms, break rooms, and create usage goals for those areas.

2. Shut off water to unused areas to eliminate waste from leaks or unmonitored use.

4. Create a goal of how much water your company can save and publish the company’s monthly water use to show progress toward those goals.

5. Educate employees on good water habits through newsletters and posters.

Photo © creativecommonsstockphotos

SWMP- Minimum Control Measure #3

The City of Kearney’s IDDE Program depends a lot on the ‘eyes on the ground.’ In order to identify issues such as discharges that could negatively impact stormwater pollution, the City of Kearney relies on communication within its departments and the citizens of our municipality. There are established ways of communication: 308-233-3273; stormwater@kearneygov.org; and ‘Access Kearney’ at www.cityofkearney.org.

Waterwise Wednesday: Ghost Apples

Another interesting winter phenomena . . .

A “Ghost Apple” occurs when freezing rain coats rotting apples before they fall, the apple turns mushy and eventually slips out, leaving the icy shell still hanging on the tree.


February 6, 2018 Ghost Apple in the Fruit Ridge area of Keith County, Michigan. Photo: Woodtv8

SWMP- Minimum Control Measure #2

Stormwater Management Plan MCM #2 is Public Involvement and Participation. This correlates with the first MCM. Ideally, a person/group will use the education that occurred with the first MCM and turn that interest into a passion. Activities done in the past include volunteering opportunities for Curb Inlet Marking and Canal Cleanup.

Waterwise Wednesday: Thanks, Ellen

Ellen Swallow Richards

Ellen Swallow Richards is more well known as the Mother of Ecology and founder Family and Consumer Science or Home Economics, but we credit her with modern municipal sewage treatment too.

In 1887, Richards and her associates conducted a water quality study of Massachusetts’ inland waters which were polluted with municipal sewage and industrial waste. This led to the to the first state water-quality standards in the nation and the first modern municipal sewage treatment plant, in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Richards served concurrently as official water analyst for the Massachusetts State Board of Health and as an instructor in MIT’s sanitation chemistry program for ten years, 1887-1897.

Photo: Science History Images

Waterwise Wednesday: Hot and Bothered

Heating water uses about 18 percent of a home’s energy consumption according to the Energy Department. Save money, energy, and frustration by employing these simple tips for hot water:

1. Lower the temperature and reduce the amount of energy required to keep the water hot. The Energy Department recommends 120 degrees.

2. Install pressure-compensating aerators on taps. These inexpensive devices regulate the volume of water that comes from the tap, reducing hot water demand.

3. Low-flow fixtures also reduce the demand for hot water.

4. Insulate hot water pipes to keep unused hot water warmer for longer.

5. Employ high-efficiency appliances. They use less water; therefore reducing the need to heat it.