Kingston Brass Braces for Drought with Water Conservation

For more than a decade, the Southern California-based Kingston Brass has been dedicated to producing products that meet water conversation regulations and efficiency standards set by the state and federal government.

In light of California’s latest drought situation brought on by the increasing effects of climate change, Kingston Brass is taking an opportunity to talk about energy sustainability and water conservation.

Help Is On the Way

As extreme weather conditions are being felt all around the world, drought has been a persistent burden here in California even while the state continues to expand and improve its water conservation efforts.

Just last month, state officials from the California Water Commission, a governor appointed advisory board, greenlit the use of $2.7 billion to pay for new water storage projects that are meant to protect against future droughts caused by climate change.

The funds, which were part of a $7.5 billion bond measure California voters approved of in 2014 to upgrade the state’s water infrastructure, will be used to add about 4.3 million acre feet of water storage throughout the state, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Specifically, the coffers will fund projects to elevate two Bay Area dams – the Los Vaqueros Reservoir and Pacheco Reservoir – and also develop two larger dams in the Central Valley.

Another Drought

The latest approval couldn’t come soon enough as another statewide drought has taken shape, impacting an estimated 23.45 million California residents. The state’s previous drought, which lasted five years, ended only a couple of years ago as the 2016-2017 water year brought plentiful winter rains and snow, showing promise of a wetter period.

However, the U.S. Drought Monitor’s latest weekly map from Aug. 28 reveals that roughly 86 percent of the state is experiencing between “abnormally dry” and “extreme drought” conditions ­– a 64 percent increase from just one year ago.

A water year begins on Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30. The Drought Monitor ranks drought conditions on a scale of “abnormally dry,” “moderate drought,” “severe drought,” “extreme drought” and “exceptional drought.”

Drought conditions had gradually increased since the start of the current water year, when 22 percent of the state was considered as abnormally dry or experiencing moderate drought. By January, the amount of California landscape impacted by drought doubled to 44 percent.

California’s New Way of Life

Back in April 2017, in the middle of what was a banner year of winter precipitation for the state, Gov. Jerry Brown lifted the drought state of emergency for most of California and kept in place certain water conservation regulations, which were enacted in July 2014 as an emergency response to the previous drought.

“This drought emergency is over, but the next drought could be around the corner,” Gov. Brown said. “Conservation must remain a way of life.”

The executive order the governor signed ending the drought maintained the state’s requirement for water use reporting and the ban on wasteful practices, which include “hosing off sidewalks, driveways and other hardscapes, washing automobiles with hoses not equipped with a shut-off nozzle, and watering lawns in a manner that causes runoff.”

Being Proactive

While Kingston Brass specializes in providing an assortment of kitchen and bath products that are specifically constructed and readily available for providing both excellent and environmentally-friendly service, there are always active ways in which homeowners can reduce their water bills while simultaneously saving the earth.

• Don’t run the water while you’re brushing your teeth and washing your hands. Instead, only turn on the water to rinse. When shaving, fill up the sink with water.
• Repair leaky faucets throughout the house right away.
• Run the dishwasher only when it’s full.
• Install faucet aerators and replace outdated showerheads.
• Limit watering the yard to one day a week and when doing so, water in the morning or late at night so the water doesn’t evaporate as quickly as it does during the heat of the daytime.
• Use brooms to clean walkways and driveways rather than hosing it down with water.
• When washing dishes, fill the sink with water instead of running it the entire time.

For a full list of these tips and more information about water conservation, check out the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website.

With the help of Kingston Brass and its considerable compilation of green appliances, homeowners may save their wallets from immensely absurd water bills and a drought-ridden world.

We invite you to browse through our website where you can review our wide assortment of Water Saving Showerheads

Kingston Brass Marketing Assistant Maddy Kim contributed to this article.