I once stayed at a hotel near the ocean near San Diego. In the bathroom was a sign that asked me to conserve water.
What is the “thinking” behind such a request? It implies there is a shortage of water. But this is pitifully specious. Next to the ocean but short of water?
No, short of money or the political will to commit the necessary capital to alleviate any capacity issues with the **government run** water utility.
And so we have the next move by government— that somehow it is more noble and more in harmony with nature to “save” water. But the oceans are just as full as ever. In fact, Al Gore is scolding us for not paying attention to his fretting about how much the oceans might rise as all the ice in Greenland melts.
Given how much in resources building a house and then maintaining it for 20 years consumes, saving a gallon of water with each flush is just a silly concern. It insults the intelligence to claim that such savings make the difference between sustainable and not sustainable.
In my experience, not a single scheme of the left to be sustainable ever really is when fully examined.
True enough you can run a sewer system with just salt water, but you need special equipment to handle it ~
Preach on! And Don't Get Me Started On "CFL's"! :-)
Now - I can hear my father saying "Turn off the faucet! Do you think I work for the water company?!". So - purposefully *wasting* water is foolish, too. But so-called "water saving" devices (low-flow showers that take longer to use....low flow toilets that require multiple flushes....and so on) just wind up wasting more than they save, IMO.