While much of the United States has experienced abnormal snow and sleet storms this winter, California has found itself with the opposite problem. Earlier this year California governor Jerry Brown proclaimed a State of Emergency due to severe drought conditions. Now that spring has arrived – we’re in a bad predicament. Warm temperatures and record-low reservoir levels may likely lead to worsening drought conditions across the state.
In response, Californians are receiving the usual tips for conserving water including watering their lawns less frequently and taking shorter showers. And believe it or not, toilets account for 32% of domestic water use.
However, what most Californians might not be aware of is that the best way to save water is to reduce their energy footprint. Most of our water is actually being utilized to generate our electricity (see the figure below courtesy of the USGS demonstrating thermoelectric as the largest single end use for water withdrawn) – not washing our clothes or other direct uses.
In 2005, nearly 50% of water withdrawn in the U.S. was put toward thermoelectric power generation. Moreover, California uses as much or more water for thermoelectric generation than any other state (see figure below courtesy of the USGS). If Californians are serious about solving water shortages during their projected driest year on record, then its residents cannot neglect the water they are using indirectly when they power their smart phones and cool their homes.
Fortunately, California has committed to construct net zero energy homes starting in 2020. We at EcoFactor are committed to finding smarter solutions to save energy. That is why we are working with cutting edge groups such as the Western HVAC Performance Alliance to realize potential energy efficiency gains for homes through helping to detect HVAC system issues before owners are aware that their HVAC systems are wasting energy (and water!). Ongoing innovations such as these will help Californians and others around the country to adapt to our future climate extremes.
