North Bay homeowners slash water usage through creative conservation

Feb 3: California drought: Biggest rainfall of 2014 soaks Bay Area Jan 31: California drought: State Water Project will deliver no water this summer Gov. Brown says flush less as California struggles with drought Drought shakes off winter for perilous early spring Jan 30: Obama pledges support amid California drought California wine industry reports robust 2013, but worries loom about drought Drizzle brings hope to thirsty California but does nothing to deter drought Jan 29: Bay Area wakes up to drizzle as light rain appears for first time in more than a month Zone 7 Water Agency seeks 20 percent voluntary water reduction from customers Jan 28: California drought: 17 communities could run out of water within 60 to 120 days, state says Jan 27: Water oak trees if needed, but not too much Rain expected this week won't put dent in the drought, forecasters say Gold prospectors take advantage of California drought California drought: Bay Area water districts start asking urban residents to conserve Jan 26: After decades of payments, EBMUD may finally use its emergency water supply Jan 25: California drought: Past dry periods have lasted more than 200 years, scientists say Jan 23: Around Dublin: Do your part now to get ahead of drought Jan 22: Drought: California is a red state, if you're talking weather Jan 21: California drought: Tips for conserving water Jan 18: Snow makers rescue big Sierra resorts as drought bakes smaller ones Jan 17: Governor Jerry Brown declares drought: Social media reaction Document: Gov. Jerry Brown's declaration of drought emergency Brown declares California drought emergency California drought: Three more months of dry weather likely, National Weather Service announces Jan 16: Drought declared a natural disaster in California, 10 other states Jan 14: Drought imperils California salmon, steelhead California drought: What's causing it? Jan 10: Despite California drought, chances for water bond are evaporating Jan 8: Timm Herdt: Learning to adapt to droughts Jan 3: Barnidge: California droughts aren't nearly as scary as they used to be Dec 29: California drought deepens as another year's rains stay away

When Susan Stompe of Novato finishes a load of laundry, she flips a switch and the leftover water is pumped to a drip system that irrigates her garden of multiflora, tea, climbing and miniature roses, wasting not a drop.

Stompe isn't the only Marin resident who has come up with innovative ways to save water that go beyond ordinary devices such as low-flow toilets. As drought engulfs Marin and water rationing looms, there's much to learn from Stompe and others like her.

While people in the county are conservation-minded anyway, an unprecedented drought has made saving water even more important. Water rationing requiring a 25 percent cut will be imposed on most Marin residents April 1, unless the heavens open in the interim, Krishna Kumar, head of the Marin Municipal Water District, said last week.

Stompe, who is on the Marin Conservation League board of directors and well-known for her environmental activities, didn't need an outside mandate to start saving water. She and her husband Brian have had their washing machine system in place for two years now.

"The other thing we do is to take baths instead of showers, and we water our trees with the bath water," Stompe said. "We have a tube that comes out of our upstairs and goes down to the back yard." Lightly used water like bath water is also known as "graywater."

Stompe's setup was simple and easy to create, she said.

"It's not out of the reach of most people. It's low-tech and not expensive," Stompe said. "The tube attaches to a brick that is in an old sock, so it doesn't scratch the tub," Stompe said.

The brick holds the tube underwater, and Stompe and her husband use a hand pump to get the water flowing into the tube.

"We measured to see how long the tube would have to be, then went to the hardware store and got the tube and a pump. Just a couple of pumps and the water gets going, and you set the pump aside to let the siphon do its thing. The entire setup cost less than $100," Stompe said.

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North Bay homeowners slash water usage through creative conservation