Letter: Drought calls for more (April 14, 2015)
Vincent Lovato provides a great outline as to the problem, and that we as consumers have to come to grips with the fact that the cost of water in this desert environment is, of necessity, going to cost us more than we have come to expect. Conservation is a must.
Apple Valley building codes require new construction housing be hooked up to sewers. In most cases where the lot size is over an acre or more, septic systems should be allowed so that waste water could filtrate into the ground. All water piped into houses by the water company from the aquifer is treated to ensure purity for our use. By the time the groundwater gets to the aquifer it is filtrated and much purer than flowing directly to the treatment plant from our homes.
Control of the soaps and detergents we use are now biodegradable, and cause less of an impact than alarmists raised that caused rural areas to require sewer hook-ups in the first instance. Alarmists also prevent pure treated water from being used in the drinking water system or even pumped back into the aquifer. They call it ‘grey water,’ and install separate lines for industrial use and landscape irrigation.
As a point of reference, my home is on a septic system, and the front 40×250 feet requires no irrigation, and supports many trees and bushes, all from the leech lines.
Mr. Lovato commended. Gov Brown’s ‘fits and starts,’ in this area, however I will commend him only if he diverts the cost of the train to nowhere to solving the greater need for water. Once again I will express my opinion that the Town of Apple Valley should abandon forthwith its effort to take over Apple Valley Ranchos Water Co.
Source: Lee Bell, Daily Press