AMWUA Blog
Want To Reuse Laundry Water In Your Yard? Tempe Is Ready To Help
Each year an average family in the City of Tempe uses about 30,000 gallons of drinking water to wash clothes. Tempe is the first city in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area to help homeowners pay to reroute their laundry water and reuse it to irrigate trees, lawns, and plants....
Dec 29 2014
2015: Cities Can Help You Keep Your Pledge To Save WaterA different sort of national environmental organization has set its sights on Arizona. Change the Course wants to help maintain enough water in Arizona rivers to keep plants, birds and fish healthy, but also keep farmers thriving and faucets flowing in homes and industries....
Dec 22 2014
Let’s Face It, Most Of Us Are Not Frost Cloth PeopleWhen it comes to protecting plants from cold weather, there are two types of desert homeowners: conscientious and casual....
Dec 15 2014
Quaggas Muscle Their Way Into Your City’s Water Delivery SystemA mussel about the size of a dime is breeding by the millions in reservoirs fed by the Colorado River. These invasive creatures, which can grow a little larger than a quarter, threaten the delivery of water to the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan area. They also can cost you and your cities a lot more than small change....
Dec 08 2014
First Water, Then DevelopmentIn 1978, swindler Ned Warren was convicted of 20 counts of fraud for selling land in Arizona without access to water. Two years later, the drafters of the 1980 Arizona Groundwater Management Act decided to put an end to that practice by requiring that an "assured water supply" must be demonstrated in advance of selling subdivision lots. Ironically, Ned Warren died in prison that same year....
Dec 01 2014
Desalination: Is It A Practical Solution For Arizona’s Future WaterEngineers can take salt out of ocean water and create water for drinking and irrigating crops. Desalting water on an industrial level is a great technological achievement. The process, however, remains expensive and messy. The world, pushed by need, has moved ahead with desalination projects while researchers work to create more efficient and Earth-friendly technology....
Nov 24 2014
The Phoenix Zoo Shows You How To Save Water And MoneyIn the last 22 months, the Phoenix Zoo reduced its water use by 20 percent. That saved the zoo $80,000 on its water bill over the past two years and conserved 19,500 million gallons of drinking water for all of us. The Phoenix Zoo saved the water and money the same way any business improves, by changing its culture....
Nov 17 2014
Smartscape: You Could Have A Better LandscaperYou pay a landscaping company to save you the time and energy it takes to maintain a lovely green space. Twenty years ago, Arizona recognized that landscapers could do more. They could help their customers save money and help cities save water....
Nov 10 2014
Tempe Town Lake: How (And Why) Did They Do That?Tempe Town Lake is a manmade lake set in a dry riverbed in the middle of the desert. The 261 acre urban lake is a surprise to newcomers and still a marvel to those who were here when it was first filled in 1999....
Nov 03 2014
HOAs Lower Water Bills, Maintain Landscapes And Create HarmonyThe Town of Gilbert helps homeowners associations take the guesswork out of irrigation costs. The town's voluntary program keeps landscapes looking lovely, saves money and water, and maintains harmony among homeowners and property managers. The goal is to stop HOAs from overwatering their landscapes by making their irrigation systems work more efficiently....