Thursday, September 10, 2015

Water -- It's Everything!


What a great summer we had!  We all love the warm sunny days.  But many of us don’t ever think about the fact that a sunny summer means the potential of a drought. 

Here in Seattle, and specifically Hazel Heights, we were heading toward a drought.  Seattle Public Utilities asked residents to conserve 10% of their water usage.  And as of August 7th, we had just 19 inches in our cistern.  That means at c. 100 gallons per inch, that's 1900 gallons, or about 950 of our watering cans.  At 50 watering cans a day, we forecasted that we had enough water in our cistern to last just three weeks.

After our mid-August rain storm, the water level increased about 6 inches, or 700+ gallons.  Giving us enough water to get us through September. 

As of 9/10, the water level is about 1,800 gallons above the lower tap. Our storm on September 5th, gave us another 1/5th  of an inch.  We are well positioned for the fall.  

Here's a graphic showing the water level of our cistern over the summer.