Neda Firouz - Water Conservation Can Save you Money

We've discussed methods of producing more income for your community (and you as an an individual), but utility expenses are inevitable. In most Associations, water bills are one of the largest expenses. Again, these tips can also be considered and applied to your own individual lifestyles, so continue reading to find tips on conserving water in your own homes as well. We have various scenarios to factor:



1. Planned Unit Development (single-family homes)
2. Condominium Complexes
3. Townhomes
4. Co-ops



This blog will focus on water conservation in planned unit developments, but stay tuned this week for additional information on the other types of communities.



The first type of community to consider is a planned unit development. Generally speaking, the homeowner is responsible for the exterior and interior of their units, which includes water bills. In planned unit developments, you do find a lot of common area landscaping. Maintaining that landscaping includes making sure that your plants are watered. You also may have common area bathrooms in facilities such as community pools or in a clubhouse.



With regards to your landscaping, many communities are on timers. With multiple controllers throughout the complex, it is a tedious job to constantly be vigilant and adjust those timers depending on the weather. Nonetheless, this is something that needs to be delegated to either a maintenance person, your landscaper, your Board Member, or your manager if he or she is willing and able to handle this task. When the climate is cooler or rain is expected, the water timers need to be adjusted accordingly. If this seems like it is too much work, you may also consider installing a satellite-controlled irrigation system. According to some studies, this system has saved up to 80% in water consumption over the conventional irrigation system. This system works with a satellite that essentially is notified about weather conditions and will adjust the plant watering accordingly. Again, this is a great tip for HOAs AND individual homeowners. For individual homeowners, just think of how much money a system like this can save you in the long-run. If you're on vacation, you do not have to go through the hassle of hiring a house sitter to water your plants while you're gone. Your satellite-controlled irrigation system will handle it for you. If you would like further information on the system, please feel free to contact me.



Aside from watering, you may also seriously want to consider installing drought tolerant plants. Utility companies such as LADWP are offering cash incentives for individual homeowners to plant the drought tolerant plants. Remember that aside from the "cash incentives," your long-term watering will be significantly cut by making this conversion. Here is a link to an article in the LA Times regarding the DWP program: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/water-savings.html



There are actually some really great looking drought tolerant plants. Here are a few pictures of drought tolerant plants:




















































































For a complete list of drought tolerant plants in the LA area (or any other vicinity in California), please visit the following site:
http://www.laspilitas.com/garden/Drought_resistant_plants_for_a_los_angeles_garden.html


As for other minor water conservation tips in planned unit developments, please stay tuned with my condominium complex water conservation tips that will be posted within the next several days. This includes areas to save INSIDE the home or common area facilities.

If you found this blog insightful or useful, please let me know. Feel free to leave any comments on what you would like to see, and I will incorporate my professional expertise on the subject.

Sincerely,
Neda Firouz