Water Self Reliance

(Published in April '09, Merchant Magazine and Building Products Digest)

With April, comes Earth Day and a host of local events all over country and of every description, from creek clean ups to huge music festivals. The media is full of green stories and more people than ever want to know about green building, saving energy, solar and wind power, retrofitting, etc. But often overlooked and under reported is the water crisis and what homeowners and builders can do about it. While those in regions used to drought and limited fresh water supplies might be prepared, communities in regions just coming into drought could use some help in becoming more water self reliant. For retailers, this represents an opportunity to do well, and do good.

There are many products and practices available for reducing household water demand, many of which can earn sizable rebates. Highlighting these products, with signage that details benefits, cost savings and local rebates can boost your sales – make sure you have the rebate forms on hand. Weather sensing irrigation controller, such as Cyber-Rain (www.cyber-rain.com) offers a cool, internet-enabled product for both home owners and landscapers. Dual-flush toilets also qualify for rebates that can sometimes cover the entire retail price of the product. And Caroma’s (www.caromausa.com) new Profile Smart is 1.28/0.8gpl and even incorporates a sink on top of the tank, capturing and reusing that graywater for even greater savings.

Another water-wise strategy is rainwater harvesting, an emerging opportunity for retailers. Regions of drought and abnormally dry weather are spreading across the West, Midwest and South, so it makes sense to capture the water when it rains for use in garden irrigation and other non-potable applications. Innovative new products now make it easy for a home owner to install their own system, eliminating the mosquito and debris clogging problems of home-grown rigs. Starting at the gutter, RainTube, (www.raintube), offers an enclosed system the lets water in and keeps debris out. Next, cutting the downspout and fitting diverters is where many homegrown projects go wrong, but a slick new kit makes it easy to get it right. The RainReserve Diverter, (www.rainreserve.com), incorporates a filter, is mosquito proof, comes with tools and is made from recycled and biodegradable plastics. Once fitted, the home owner can use the RainReserve website to locate their own used barrel to reuse. A cool alternative to the barrel is the RainWater Hog, which looks like a piece from a giant construction set and is designed to be sited almost anywhere. An in-store display incorporating products like these with useful information about your local drought conditions and benefits of rainwater harvesting could prove valuable to your community.

For the slightly more committed, graywater systems and composting toilets are two other water conservation strategies that are gaining some mainstream momentum and are worth learning more about. Graywater systems capture and reuse water that’s already been used for bathing, cleaning, laundry, etc. Very often, local codes can be very restrictive, but they’re beginning to be reviewed and modified in response to current and forecasted drought conditions. Composting toilets, of course, use no water to begin with and that’s generating more interest in them. As people learn to overcome their fears and misconceptions about how they work, the retail opportunities will grow. And while the systems can be expensive, there are rebates available, and SunMar, a leading manufacture of residential units, offers a program for non-stocking dealers. Even better, a demo unit on your store floor would be a nice way to test the water, so to speak, in your local market.