PWP Water Conservation 101 Workshop

Did you know the most common source for a water leak is in the toilet and how to check if there's a leak? Do you know how to read your water bill? Do you know the best native plants to look for if you want a sustainable, water-efficient and easy-to-maintain garden? These and many other questions were addressed at the Pasadena Water & Power Water Conservation 101 Workshop this Saturday. The free workshop was free and open to Pasadena residents. Their next workshop will be June 12.  

I scored some great water-saving tools, which PWP offered the nearly 40 attendees that came on Saturday. I highly recommend their workshop because it was very informative about just small stuff you can do to be more conservative and save on your energy bills, plus they shared some amazing rebate programs like the Cool Trees Program and Efficient Home Cooling Incentive Program. I am planning on buying and planting a tree next to my bedroom window--you get a $50 rebate for installing a shade tree to reduce your need for home cooling costs (up to 20 percent). I'm also considering purchasing a low-impact Energy Star air conditioner and getting a $75 rebate from PWP. Just show proof of purchase. And if you didn't know, keep your AC at 75 degrees (If it's good enough for outdoors, it's good enough for indoors!).

Perhaps a lot of people don't even know where Pasadena gets its water (35 percent from local groundwater and 65 percent purchase from Colorado River and Metropolitan Water District Bay Delta Region) and perhaps they also didn't know that this is our THIRD year in a drought. This and much more information was offered throughout the workshop, which was led by a horticulturist and PWP representative, both whom had much knowledge to offer listeners. Since moving here three years ago, Pasadena has been great about offering resources and opportunities to educate their residents on how to be more green and lower their waste factor. 

The water saving kit included a bucket, two water-efficient shower heads, a moisture sensor, a hose nozzle, a soil probe (measures PH balance in soil), some groovy fridge magnets on being more conserving and a gardening journal, which includes planting tips and photos of native California plants.

The kit also included a leak detection kit, which you can test on your sink or toilet leak. You toss the little dye tablets in your toilet tank and wait 15 minutes. If you see any blue in your bowl, that means you have a leak and that maybe your flush valve ball needs to be replaced! I was relieved to find that mine had no leak! 

The kit also included a lovely state of California-shaped planting seed of California Poppy, handmade from recycled, biodegradable fibers and embedded with seeds. Can't wait to plant this and have local, California Poppy flowers for the home (and yep, spring is the perfect time to plant them!).