The HOA Board Quarterly Summer 2019 Issue #21 | Page 6

RECLAIMED WATER TO THE RESCUE by Steve Economou Reclaimed water has been on the scene in San Diego for more than thirty years. This water is completely safe and does not create any unpleasant odors or dangers. We find that some landscapes irrigated with reclaimed water are greener and lusher as compared to conditions under potable water use. There are substantial financial incentives provided to assist HOA’s in the conversion of their irrigation systems. In one community recently converted the resulting assistance funds totaled more than $51,000.00. Assistance funds of this sort are calculated on a given communities historical water use. The equation is as follows: Acre feet (ACF) of water used per year times $195.00 times 5 years use Your water bills all have a figure of total water used in that period. That sum is provided in hundred cubic foot (HCF) totals. Remember that there are 43,560 square feet in each acre. Henceforth there are 435.6 HCF (hundred cubic foot) in each ACF (acre cubic foot). The next important fact about reclaimed water is that it is less than 20% of the cost of potable water in the City of San Diego. In the same community that received $51,000.00 of assistance funds for conversion the water costs went from $50,000 per year to just $9,000. There are important considerations to the prospect of converting to the use of reclaimed water in your community. One must determine the location of the nearest reclaimed water mainline. If you notice purple signs and boxes or cylinders near your association that’s a good indicator that reclaimed water is close! The City and the County require that an application be submitted. Plans of your community will need to be included in that submission. Inspections will ensue to assure that no “cross connections” (accidental connection of reclaimed water lines to potable water lines) exist. After conversion it will be necessary for your landscape maintenance company to have licensed reclaimed water managers on staff. Take a look at your next water bill in your association and check your HCF use. Remember that water bills are generally for two months use. A quick estimate of possible assistance funds can be arrived at by simply multiplying the HCF use of perhaps your March bill by six (1 years use), then times that sum by five (5 years use) and divide by 435 to arrive at you approximate ACF use for five years. Times that result $195 and you will have a good round number of assistance funds available to your community. Your start point is to contact a water professional such as myself to meet with your Board of Directors to provide a full explanation of the process. Such a professional can guide your community through the process including submission of plans to the City and County. That same person should also be able to coordinate the needed paperwork and applications for conversion assistance funds. Indeed the process is just that – a process. Don’t be discouraged. The benefits far outweigh the efforts and upfront costs. Start right away because as a wise person once told me “the completion of any project is not hastened in the least by the failure to begin”. Steve Economou is the founder of Rainscape Environmental Management and a sought- after consultant in the industry for more than 37 years. He can be contacted directly at: [email protected] Contributed by Steve Economu Rainscape Environmental Management 619.229.0360 • [email protected] or visit them at www.rainscape.com 6 | The HOA Board Quarterly | Issue #21 | Summer 2019