The Current

Edition: June 2024

The Current is the monthly newsletter of Innovative Water Solutions where we highlight the great stuff happening at our company and also bring you up-to-date with some of the current water news that could affect you. We hope you enjoy the newsletter!

• Blog Post of the Month: 2018 Rain Catcher Award
• FAQ Post of the Month: How to Conserve Water
• Residential Project of the Month: Underground tank in Westlake Hills
• Commercial Project of the Month: Live Oak Unitarian Universal Church
• Water News Article #1: Community Impact Highlights IWS
• Water News Article #2: The Other Border Dispute Is Over an 80-Year-Old Water Treaty
• Water News Article #3: Drought-prone southern Utah county lands $20.5 million grant to help build water-reuse system
• Water Conservation Tip: Laundry Best Practices
• Current Texas Drought Conditions
• Current Texas Water Calendar
• Video: Coca Cola draws water from parched Perth, Australia
• Noted: System Inspections

For this project in Westlake Hills, the homeowner wanted to collect rainwater for irrigation without the visibility of the tank.  So we installed an underground 1,250 gallon storage tank to meet their needs.  The system is equipped with a float switch to activate the system during irrigation timing.  The pump is a submersible pump, so it rests inside the tank.  We were able to complete this job in time for catching some May rain, and the homeowner is excited to have some rainwater ready for our upcoming hot months, free from water restrictions.

Live Oak Unitarian Universal Church was experiencing drainage issues on their property and hired Innovative Water Solutions to solve them. We created a plan that included 200 feet of rock lined swales to divert the water.  The end result was eye catching and functional, allowing the congregation to enjoy their beautiful landscape once again.

Swales are, in the most basic form, a shallow channel with gently slopping slides that allow for drainage and run off.  Swales can be made using dirt, sand, gravel and river rock.

Innovative Water Solutions, or IWS LLC, has been providing sustainable water conservation systems to Central Texas and the Texas Hill Country for 20 years as of April 1, according to a news release.

IWS specializes in rainwater harvesting, green infrastructure, drainage improvements and gray water reuse—a system that collects water from bathroom sinks, showers and bathtubs to use for outdoor irrigation, according to the IWS website.

Quote of note

Co-founder Blake West said their commitment to sustainability is “ingrained” in everything they do.

“As we mark this significant milestone, we remain steadfast in our dedication to advancing sustainable practices and empowering our clients to embrace environmentally responsible solutions,” West said in a news release.

Maria-Elena Giner faced a room full of farmers, irrigation managers and residents in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas on April 2.

The local agricultural community was reeling. Reservoirs on the Rio Grande were near record lows and the state had already warned that water cutbacks would be necessary. The last sugar mill in the region closed in February, citing the lack of water.

But Mexico still wasn’t sending water to the U.S. from its Rio Grande tributaries, as a 1944 treaty requires the country to do in five-year intervals.

“We haven’t gotten any rains or significant inflows,” said Giner, the commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission. “It’s not looking good.”

Drought-prone Washington County is receiving a $20.5 million federal grant to aid in its efforts to build a regional reuse system that can store more spring runoff and treated wastewater, the Bureau of Reclamation announced recently.

To keep pace with growth, the Washington County Water Conservancy District unveiled a 20-year master plan last July that calls for securing another 47,000 acre-feet of water by 2042 by conserving more water and constructing a $1 billion regional reuse system.

District officials can use the money to build a reuse system that will include four more reservoirs, more pipelines, treatment facilities and other infrastructure. Once built, the system will help the district store more treated wastewater which could be used for outdoor irrigation during the hot summer months, freeing up culinary water to supply new construction cropping up in the county.

• With the many choices of cold water detergents on the market today, ‘warm’ or ‘hot’ water settings can usually be reserved for really dirty clothes or for combating stubborn stains.

• Use your washing machine only with full loads and with the minimum water setting to get the job done.

• Wash bulky bedding and/or towels separately from lighter-weight clothing items. This will help the dryer work more efficiently. While the dryer doesn’t use water directly, maximizing its performance is key to cutting energy costs.

• When it is time to purchase a new washing machine, there are some great high efficiency choices out there today. Always check for the Energy Star and EnergyGuide labels in making your decision. The new front-loading, horizontal-axis models generally save energy and water. The older top-loading vertical-axis models immerse the items in a full tub of water, and then agitate it through the wash cycle and spin it through the rinse cycle. The new high efficiency (He) style doesn’t have to fill the tub so full, and tumbles laundry repeatedly through fast cycles, similar to the motion in a clothes dryer, using about half the water in the process. Thanks to the fast spin cycles, the He type is also able to get more water out of the clean laundry, which reduces the time and energy needed for drying.

SOURCE: National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

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