The Cost of Water
I recently had the privilege of serving the people of the San Quintin Valley in Baja California, Mexico. The majority of the Baja Peninsula has had drought conditions for six years now. Water is an extremely valuable commodity everywhere but comes with a great price on the Baja Peninsula. Even with an exchange rate of 12 Pesos to every US Dollar the People in Baja California pay roughly $0.05 per gallon of water that is NOT potable! They pay roughly $0.10 per gallon for water they can drink. To put that in perspective; CRW customers pay $1.90 per Unit or 748 gallons of water (for the first 4 units) every CRW customer also pays $26.90 per billing cycle.
At prices like these the people of Baja California are magicians with water. Here are some of the crazy ways that the people of Baja Mexico save water:
- Water plants (indoor and outdoor) with water used to wash dishes by using wash tubs to wash dishes (no drain to loose water out of) – applying water to only the plants that need water
- After rinsing dishes use the same water to wash the dish rags, socks and other small items that may need a small amount of bleach
- Limit showers per week by washing with a wash cloth and a small container of water
- Use a soft cloth to dust your car rather than washing with water
- Only flush solid waste in the toilet never liquid waste alone
These are extreme measures, however the above situation may help us put into perspective that the small things we do to conserve water may benefit more than just our own water bill.