Without Conservation, We’re All in Hot Water

What a great pity that in “Oasis Not Making Anyone Thirsty” (April 30), on the festivities at the Department of Water and Power’s Japanese Garden in Van Nuys, the major focus was the undrinkability of the water used in the garden. The Japanese Garden was never conceived as even a forerunner to the concept of “toilet to tap.” The purpose of the garden is to show what can be done with reclaimed water; how it can be used to create a beautiful, serene and green area where people can go to relax, enjoy and contemplate nature. It is meant to serve as a restful retreat from our “hustle-bustle” daily lives.

It also serves as a teaching tool, demonstrating what can be accomplished when science applies itself to solving sewage-disposal problems in an environmentally sound way. Too bad you chose instead to concentrate on what engenders a reader’s emotional response rather than on what is important and makes good environmental sense.

Norman and Tamra Nelson

Sherman Oaks

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Low-flow shower heads and low-capacity toilets are fine in conserving water, but there is something else that I have not seen addressed yet. When you turn on the hot-water faucet in your home and wait more than five to eight seconds for hot water, you are wasting water. The enormous amount of water being wasted daily, going down the drain, is a conservation disaster.

What do we need to do to get home builders to install systems in new houses to eliminate or minimize this very wasteful practice? There should not be too much extra cost in plumbing a new house to run an additional pipe for hot-water circulation. This type of system would make hot water almost instantaneous at any faucet. A small pump located near the water heater could accomplish a lot. There are systems now on the market that can be retrofitted to existing houses that offer this type of solution. We need to get more serious about conserving water. There isn’t an abundance of it.

Jay Tissot

Upland