Archive for Conservation

DISTRICT NEWS FOR CUSTOMERS

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February is here and we hope everyone has enjoyed 2018 thus far. It has been interesting weather wise and we are still hoping and anxiously awaiting for more moisture to come to our mountain. We need rain and snow soon to help keep our wells full, our forest healthy and fire danger low.

New Customers:

Pine Cove Water District would like to welcome all our new customers! Our records indicate there are 68 new customers to Pine Cove since July. PCWD, would like to remind all customers to turn your water off at the customer valve when leaving your mountain home. If you don’t know where your customer valve is or how to turn it off please give the office a call during normal business hours (Mon-Fri 9am-4pm) and we would be happy to assist you.

Snow/Rain:

Pine Cove has received an extremely low percentage of recorded rain/snow compared to yearly averages. We are currently facing the possibility of stage two water restrictions in our near future.

Last year’s moisture considerably improved the state’s and  PCWD’ s water supply and eased drought conditions. As of today, all indications show water restrictions will remain in place and it is important for us to continue to conserve water. PCWD encourages long term water conservation measures as well as planning for future drought conditions. Water conservation should remain a way of life!

Billing:

February billing was sent out last week please read the informational inserts with your bill. We send out water bills every two months on the even months.  Your bill will be due on the 25th of this month and  April is the next billing month. We greatly appreciate you paying your bill in a timely manner and paying on time prevents a late fee of $15 from being added to your bill.

We have purchased a new billing system which will roll out with the April bill and more options (online payments) will be available so keep an eye out on more information regarding the upcoming improvements.

If you are a renter, you can always call the office to obtain balance information.  All water bills are kept in the homeowners name. Landlords and tenants are urged to make arrangements on how the water bills will be handled.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding you billing or any other District business;  please, contact us during normal business hours by phone, email or stop in the office.

Phone:  951-659-2675

Office: 24917 Marion Ridge Road, right next to the fire station

Email: becky@pcwd.org

Office Hours: 9 am to 4 pm,  Monday through Friday.

Also, if you haven’t ordered your address number plaque from the Pine Cove Fire Station, please do!  They are free to CSA 38 service area customers (Pine Cove).  Having a visible reflective sign to display  your address will greatly assist the fire department or ambulance if they need to find you.

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Posted in: Around the District, Billing, Conservation, Customer Infomation, Customer Valve, Drought

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BE WATER WISE

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Helpful hints on how to conserve our presious water

 

Over half the water use inside a home takes place in the bathroom.

Turn off the water while shaving or brushing teeth. (Savings: up to 4 gallons a minute, or up to 200 gallons a week for a family of four!)
Take short showers instead of tub baths; showers use less water. (If you keep your showers to under 5 minutes you’ll save up to 1,000 gallons a month.)
If you do take a bath, be sure to plug the drain right away and adjust the temperature as you fill the tub.
Don’t use your toilet as a wastebasket. Use a leak-free, high efficiency toilet. (Toilets are by far the main source of water use in the home: nearly 30 percent of residential indoor water consumption.)
When washing your hands, turn off the water while you lather.

 

In the kitchen Cook up some real water savings.


Wash only full loads of dishes, and select the appropriate water level or load size option on the dishwasher.
Do not use water to defrost frozen foods; thaw foods in the refrigerator overnight.
Scrape, rather than rinse dishes before loading them into the dishwasher.
Compost food waste instead of using the garbage disposal or throwing it in the trash.
Keep drinking water in the refrigerator instead of letting the faucet run until the water is cool

 

Rinse out some real money savings with your laundry.


Wash only full loads of laundry or use the appropriate water level or load size selection on the washing machine.
Consider purchasing a high efficiency washing machine, which can save over 50 percent in laundry water and energy use.

 

Always fix leaks everywhere.


You can significantly reduce water use by simply repairing leaks in fixtures (faucets and showerheads), pipes, and toilets. A leaky faucet wastes gallons of water in a short period of time. A leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons per day. That would be like flushing your toilet more than 50 times for no reason!
Outdoors

 

Of the estimated 29 billion gallons of water used daily by households in the United States, nearly 9 billion gallons (30 percent) is used outdoors. In the hot summer months, or in dry climates, a household’s outdoor water use can be as high as 70 percent.

Native and drought tolerant plants can make a beautiful alternative to unused turf areas in your yard. Purchase an inexpensive hose timer to avoid over-watering. Soaker hoses are also a great option for avoiding evaporation.
Collecting rainwater to use on your landscape can help you save water outdoors.
Many local water providers offer rebates on efficient irrigation devices.
Use a broom or electric blower to clean driveways and sidewalks, rather than hosing them off.
When washing your car, use an adjustable nozzle or sprayer and turn off the water stream while soaping your vehicle.

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Posted in: Community, Conservation, Leaks, Uncategorized

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Free Water Efficiency Kits

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PCWD invites all residents to come by the office and pick up your free water efficiency kit!

Kit includes:
-High-Efficiency Showerhead, saves money by using up to 75% less water than traditional showerheads.
-Dual Spray Swivel Aerator, offers a 360 degree swivel and has two spray options.
-TWO Bubble Spray Bathroom Faucet Aerators, designed to accommodate most bathroom sink faucets.
-Leak Detector Dye Tablets Kit, used to identify leaks in toilet tanks.
-Flow Meter Bag, helps determine the flow of showerheads and faucet aerators.
-Water Conservation wheel is a great educational tool that contains valuable water saving procedures. -Installation Instructions for easy home installation.

Stop by get one for each bathroom in your mountain home.
You could also get an ice cream while you are here.

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Posted in: Around the District, Conservation, Customer Infomation, From the Office, Pine Cove Water District, Uncategorized

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Thank you!

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We would like to Thank all of the customers and residents of Pine Cove for your continued diligence in helping us find leaks and conserving water. There have been several helpful calls made to us by the residents regarding possible leaks. While not all of the reports have been confirmed leaks we sincerely appreciate the continued efforts to work together. There was one leak discovered on Sylvan Way that was originally thought to be a spring but after further inspection we found the leak. We have purchased updated state of the art leak detection equipment that will greatly assist us in finding any leaks even faster. As promised we are still giving rewards to anyone who a calls in a possible leak and it is confirmed.

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Posted in: Community, Conservation, Customer Infomation, Leaks

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Billing

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The billing was mailed on Monday, and you should receive your bill by Friday.  We had a few good size leaks, and we want to remind you that the most important thing you can do is to turn your water off, at your customer valve, when you leave for any extended period of time.  You are responsible for any water that goes through your meter, and Pine Cove Water District has never forgiven a water bill.  We also recommend that you use the shut off valve, located in your customer box, next to the meter, instead of or in addition to any shut off you might have closer to your house.  If your water is shut off at the house, and not by the meter, and a pipe breaks, it could be weeks before you ever see that water.

If you have a small leak, lets say 1 gallon per minute, for 30 days, that would be 43,200 gallons of water.  That size of a leak would cost you just under $400.00……..if that leak goes undetected for 2 months, that same bill would be $1000.00.  If you have a leak that’s 3 gallons per minute, the water going through the meter would be almost 130,000 gallons in one month……a bill that size will cost you about $1600.00……….and for 2 months, that same 3 gallon per minute leak would cost you over $7000.00……that is a lot of money to pay, and a lot of wasted water.

If you have not shut off your water, please call us and we will go out and shut the water off for you.  The fee to do that is $15.00, but that is a lot better than having to pay for a leak, because you didn’t shut your water off.

dripping-faucet-md

 

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Posted in: Billing, Conservation, Customer Infomation, Customer Valve, Frozen Pipes, Leaks

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Wood Chips and Compost

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There must have been a lot of yard work and gardening going on over the weekend because when we arrived this morning, both piles were depleted!  This means Pine Covers are amending their soil so it retains moisture better and putting down wood chips to keep the moisture in the soil.  We are working on getting more compost as well as wood chips, so if you didn’t get yours, do not worry.  I will post here on the blog as soon as our supplies are replenished.  We are so happy to be able to provide these items to Pine Cove Water District customers free of charge.

Compost

Remember, if you need a large amount of either item to check in with us at the office first, as we want to be sure there is enough for everyone.  Now is the time to be outside cleaning up your yard, doing your fire abatement, amending your soil and adding a layer of woodchips to keep moisture in.  These are all very necessary chores that need done, so get them done now so you can enjoy the summer with peace of mind knowing you are doing all you can to keep your mountain home safe and that you are helping to conserve water.

Wood Chips

Jerry & Stitch

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Posted in: Around the District, Compost, Conservation, Customer Infomation, Drought, Fire Abatement, From the Office, Water Conservation, Wood chips

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Drought

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As everyone is aware, the drought we are currently engulfed in is statewide and does not just affect us here on the hill.  The state of California has a website dedicated to the drought and has a lot of information regarding this situation.  Here is the website in case you would like to check it out for yourself.

http://ca.gov/drought

There is all sorts of information on the drought and all that is being done.  It is well worth spending some time there reading up on what is happening throughout the state.

On April 22, 2014, the State Water Resources Control Board approved $4 million in funding.  However, these funds are to provide interim replacement drinking water for economically disadvantaged communities with contaminated water supplies.

Occasionally, the topic of applying for grant money comes up from the public.  What they don’t realize is that the money is not just there for the taking.  There is very specific criteria that needs to be met and here at the Pine Cove Water District, we have excellent quality water and therefore, we do not qualify for these emergency monies.

We do check for grants on a daily basis and should something open up that we do qualify for, we will definitely apply .

In the meantime, we trust that the wonderful folks of Pine Cove will continue on with their water saving ways.

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Posted in: Around the District, Conservation, Customer Infomation, Drought, Water Conservation

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Free Water Saving Kits!

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We are inviting Pine Cove Water District Customers to come in and take advantage of our free Water Saving kits.  We have mentioned this several times before, but it bears repeating.  Any Pine Cove Water District customer can come into the district office during normal business hours and request a water saving kit.  Our office is open on Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.  Just pop in and ask for one of our kits.

What is in these kits you may be asking yourself.  Well, the kit includes an Earth Massage 1.5 GPM showerhead with a two setting massage spray showerhead.  This alone is worth stopping by for the kit.  It doesn’t end there though.  There is also a 1.5 GPM Kitchen Swivel Aerator.  It has dual-spry functionality with wide-spray radius and a water pausing on/off valve.  Then there are not one, but two Bathroom Faucet 1.0 GPM Aerators that deliver half the flow with twice the power!  These are commercial grade aerators for your home.  Also included in the kit is a Toilet Water Saver (Fill Cycle Diverter).  This is a patented water saver that takes excess water from the bowl and diverts it to the tank to reduce water consumption.  This is NOT a flow restricting device.  Finally, there is a packet of Toilet Leak Detection Tablets that are FDA certified, non-toxic dye tablets used to detect leaks in toilets.

So there you have it.  This kit is a great start to reducing water usage in your home.  Each item takes only a couple of minutes to install and will have you saving water and money in no time.   So stop by the office today and pick yours up!

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Posted in: Conservation, Customer Infomation, Pine Cove Water District, Water Conservation

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Conserving Water Tips

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The Environmental Protection Agency, aka the EPA, has some great tips for saving water on their website.  Here is the link to their website where there are many more links to other websites.

http://www.epa.gov/greenhomes/ConserveWater.htm

There are lots of tips on saving water for both inside the house as well as out in the garden.   It is definitely worth reading.

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Posted in: Community, Conservation, Customer Infomation, From the Office

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Friday Happenings

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Edison has turned off the electricity here on the hill.  It should be off until about noon.  They are working on upgrading the system and everyone was given advance notice.  This is a planned outage and there is nothing wrong and there is no problem.

The weather has warmed up slightly and it is about 40 degrees this morning.  The sun should be back out by Sunday and temperatures should be back in the 50’s.  So, all in all, it should be a decent weekend here on the hill if you are planning a trip up.  If you are a full timer, it will be a good weekend to get a head start on some of those spring projects.  It is too bad we didn’t get more snow, but we have no control over that.

Please remember we are now in Stage I conservation.  Please conserve water whenever possible.  For more information on the Water Conservation Stages, please check the page at the top of the blog.  We also enclosed a brochure in this month’s bill explaining the different stages as well as the tiered water prices for each stage.

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Posted in: Billing, Conservation, Uncategorized, Water Bills, Water Conservation, Weather

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