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2006-01-11 Home Front: Culture Wars

The Bureaucrat in Your Shower - First they came for my shower nozzle...

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Posted by BrerRabbit 2006-01-11 07:07|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Modding of shower heads, and importing your toilets from Canada or Mexico is just one of those things you have to do to thwart the bungling bureaucrats.

I lost all sense of need to conserve water in the home when I saw this little water use statistic for my State:

industrial, 60%
agricultural, 39%
residential, less than 1%

And yet, there was always a big push on for residential users to cut back on their use.

Then, the mining industry in my State decided to recycle the water it used to process ore, and overnight, we had 30% more water!

And yet they still clamored that everybody had to conserve their residential use. A few admitted that it was done solely to "make everybody conservation conscious."

Bugger them all.

Posted by Anonymoose 2006-01-11 08:21|| 2006-01-11 08:21|| Front Page Top

#2 Be prepared to 'drop the soap' once again as April 15 approaches, and we must fully fund these flush monitors.

Posted by Besoeker 2006-01-11 08:53|| 2006-01-11 08:53|| Front Page Top

#3 When my house was about 50 years old, the local water authority decided that they needed to install a new meter in my basement so they could read the meter directly from a vehicle on the street. I cooperated and the installation only took 15 minutes an cost me nothing.

A few weeks later, I noticed a puddle at my electric water heater. It kept coming back. I replaced the T&P valve. It kept coming back. I replaced the aging water heater. It kept coming back. I studied the whole system. Lo and behold, the new water meter assembly included a check valve that had not been there before. The check valve left thermal expansion no where to go except out through the T&P valve. I had to buy and install an expansion tank. I was furious. My system had worked fine for 50 years without an expansion tank.

A few months later, there was a card left at my door that asked me to read my meter and mail in the reading. I figured it was an error, but did it anyway. A few months later... another card. The water authority had abandoned its automatic meter reading program.

They will never get any benefit of the doubt from me again.

Posted by Darrell 2006-01-11 09:27|| 2006-01-11 09:27|| Front Page Top

#4 Any suprise the bureaucrat is from the Peoples Republic of Seattle? Where its against the law to have more then 10% recyclables visable from the top of your garbage.

Perhaps things would improve if Seattle were to place simular restrictions on their fire-hydrants :).

Posted by CrazyFool 2006-01-11 09:42|| 2006-01-11 09:42|| Front Page Top

#5 never let the state *do* you a favor. LOL

Posted by RD 2006-01-11 09:43|| 2006-01-11 09:43|| Front Page Top

#6 When I was a kid we rarely needed plungers....
Now?... #$@@*^

The shower thingy is interesting but doesn't the constant temp mandated do-hinky restrict the flow too?

Its like when we did the addition.
I am 6'4" the wife 5' 3". We wanted bi-level bathroom sinks. Mine higher so splashes wouldn't make it look like I pissed in my pants and her's lower so she wasn't like a kid reaching.
The Fricking Inspectors wouldn't let us build it that way in our own home!
Guess it's not our castle but theirs! And now with the SC's ruling on E. Domain we know its theirs to give to their buddies.... so why aren't the bureaucrats paying my mortgage and water bill?

Posted by 3dc 2006-01-11 10:29|| 2006-01-11 10:29|| Front Page Top

#7 You can have my shower nozzle when you pry my cold, wet, soapy, dead fingers from it.

Posted by Doc8404 2006-01-11 11:23|| 2006-01-11 11:23|| Front Page Top

#8 I have the whole Mississippi River running a few hundred feet from my door, after the rest of the country is done using it, and I still have to 'save water' with the new shower heads that take twice as long to rinse with, and the new toilets that take twice as many flushes.

Posted by Glenmore 2006-01-11 12:12|| 2006-01-11 12:12|| Front Page Top

#9 Here's something weird - years ago, I decided to "do my part" for water conservation and I installed one of those low-flow shower heads in my apartment's bathroom. Some time after that, the manager had some contractor go through and redo the bathrooms in the units (shower stall and low-flow toilets) and when my unit was redone, the low-flow head got removed and a head with the original heavy flow was put back in.

No complaints here.

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2006-01-11 12:45|| 2006-01-11 12:45|| Front Page Top

#10 Fortunately, shower heads aren't all that costly and can easily be replaced. Just be careful that the $100 you just flushed down your low flow toilet doesn't clog it.

Posted by 2b 2006-01-11 13:36|| 2006-01-11 13:36|| Front Page Top

#11 Uwing your elementary plumbing skills, locate the flow-restrictor orifice & widen it with a drill bit to solve your "low-flow" problems in a few seconds. What the inspectors don't know won't hurt 'em.

Posted by Snuns Thromp1484 2006-01-11 19:51|| 2006-01-11 19:51|| Front Page Top

#12 Dang, no "creeping" laser dots, snake-eyes, andor camera flashes, etal., in the name of the Feds and State, the FBI and CIA and Police - you know, the Mafia, or Penn State.!?

Posted by JosephMendiola 2006-01-11 22:16|| 2006-01-11 22:16|| Front Page Top

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