California is well known for its hot, dry weather. It's the reason for many tourist visits, but also the reason that the area is often faced with drought. In such a dry area, watering your lawn while you're working with your gardening hand tools is considered wasteful. Water should be used for drinking and necessary tasks only when it's in short supply and be conserved whenever possible.
You'll have to keep an eye on your water usage if you move to California, especially if you're moving to Fontana, California. Why? Fontana has just introduced a new system of water conservation rates. They go into effect on July 1st, 2010, just in time for you to have to deal with them when you move down to start your new electronic circuit design job. Under the program, residents who conserve water will pay lower rates than residents who use large amounts of water.
The purpose of this tiered system of water rates isn't to increase the city's revenue from water bills. In fact, the decreases in water rates for conservative customers balances out the increases for those with leaky check valves, so that the program results in no net change in revenue. The entire point of the program it to protect and ease the burden on already overdrawn water supplies. This sort of practice will become more common as Global Warming awareness increases, but for now Fontana is more progressive than most.
There are two tiers in the pricing system. The first tier is for customers who use 16 units of water or less (one unit is 748 gallons) in a month. This is more than enough to keep your central heating boiler going and your family hydrated. The rate for first tier customers is $2.1396 per unit. The second tier is for customers who use more than 16 units of water (i.e. over 11,968 gallons) per month. These customers will be charged $2.1396 per unit for the first 16 units and $2.4604 per unit after that.
So now the big question is: how can you conserve water and keep from ending up in that more expensive second tier? First of all, fix any leaks in your plumbing and keep the tap off while brushing. Secondly, cut back or eliminate watering your lawn, as it uses about 350 gallons every day! Instead, save your shower or bath water and use it to water your plants. Install water saving fixtures in your shower, sink, and toilet and save showers for until you're all sweaty after a girls hockey tournament.
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