Mailbag: Waterless urinals are a great start
¿Among the city’s announced water conservation measures is waterless urinals installed in most city facilities, public facilities and parks. While urinals may not be among the sexiest of topics, it is one about which I have been thinking for a long time.
Requiring waterless urinals in city installations is a terrific idea. According to one of the little placards, a waterless urinal can save up to 40,000 gallons a year — that’s a lot of water.
What I don’t understand is why the city does not require them on all new or remodeled construction that will serve the general public — or indeed, why they are not a mandatory retrofit.
I have heard a story, possibly apocryphal, but frightening if true, that the pipefitters union has a very powerful lobby that has successfully blocked all efforts to enact laws or regulations in this area. Apparently the installation of waterless urinals requires less plumbing than ones that use water, and hence less plumbers — or as they prefer to be called “pipefitters.”
I grew up in a union household, and I am strongly pro-union, as is much of the city of Laguna Beach. However, some years ago I dropped my support of the buggy-whip-makers union and for the same reason, supporting such a union policy, if true, is equally outdated. However strongly the city supports unions, this is untenable.
The City Council needs to balance that interest with the powerful water conservation policies that are being driven by the drought. I urge the City Council to create an agenda item to discuss a modification of the zoning and/or building codes to require waterless urinals in all construction projects which will serve the public.
I don’t think we are at a point where we can mandate retrofitting but at the very least we can stop exacerbating the problem.
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Gene Gratz
Laguna Beach
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It’s time to discuss slowing down development
It seems everyone is talking about how we can conserve water now that Gov. Jerry Brown announced a mandatory 25% reduction on urban water use. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will probably impose restrictions of its own.
There are approved county plans in the works for massive development in South Orange County and no one is talking about it. No one is talking about slowing it down or stopping it due to the impact such a large increase in population would have on precious resources.
Wouldn’t it be prudent to have this discussion now?
Johanna Felder
Laguna Beach
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Now is not the time for building a pool
This letter was also sent to the Design Review Board
Looking at the agenda for Thursday’s Design Review Board meeting, I was shocked to see that five of the homes are presenting with versions of pools/spas/water features. Really? Our wonderful ocean isn’t enough?
Is there anything at all we can do to prevent such a flagrant abuse of our attempts to save water in a time of the greatest drought in recorded history? Can we, for example, institute at least a temporary moratorium on pools/spas/water features until the immediate drought is over?
The Department of Land Resource Management reports that “on average, homes with swimming pools use more than twice as much water outdoors than homes without pools.”
And according to a study by Opower.com, pools consume energy in other ways: “pool homes annually consume 49% more electricity and 19% more natural gas than their non-pool neighbors.”
My feeling is that Laguna Beach, along with the rest of SoCal, can ill afford such a luxury at a time like this. Hopefully you can find some way to prevent or significantly minimize the impact made by such extravagant self-indulgence at this critical time.
Rosemary Boyd
Laguna Beach
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Music festival should keep on rockin’
Thank you to the Sawdust Festival’s Board of Directors and the city of Laguna Beach Planning Commission for continuing to host the Blue Water Music Festival on the festival grounds.
This blend that showcases Laguna’s spectacular natural setting and quality music, including much local talent, deserves to be a regular event.
Roger Kempler
Laguna Beach
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