Clark County School District students who have completed an intense six-week summer program studying our water resources will unveil an initiative Friday encouraging their peers to switch to reusable water bottles and help the environment.

More than 80 Clark County School District children – many of them from Title I schools — were selected from throughout southern Nevada for their academic potential to paticipate in the summer program sponsored by the Alexander Dawson Foundation.

They will hold a grand finale for the program Friday, including an unveiling of promotional videos created by the students to promote their water bottle program.

The Dawson Foundation is helping the students set up a 501(c)3 to allow them to approach local businesses for donations of reusable water bottles and to visit local middle schools to distribute the reusable water bottles.

The students’ goal is to go to every middle school in the Clark County School District this year to spread their message on how disposable water bottles leave a carbon footprint.

For the past six weeks, the gifted CCSD students have engaged with business leaders, government officials, ranchers, environmental activists, journalists, engineers, scholars and attorneys on water issues in the summer program, “Water: Science and Culture in a Changing Climate.”

This is the first year of the summer program sponsored by the Dawson Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving education in Las Vegas. The summer program is based at the Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain.

Ever since an Idaho college student prepared a thesis paper saying toxins were released from frozen or extra hot water bottles, there has been controversy over the safety of drinking water from plastic bottles left in extreme temperatures.   According to the FDA, the research for that paper was poorly done with some bad results.  But between the media and the internet e-mails, the so-called study spread false fears throughout the world.

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It’s always green, never needs mowing and saves a bundle on your water bill.  Synthetic turf may be the answer to keeping a grass-like lawn yearround, without the cost of keeping up the real green stuff. 

Green Living Services installs about 10 different types of turf, from the lawn variety to commercial landscape to football fields.  Harry Jackson, owner of Green Living Services, says turf has many advantages over lawn and desert rock landscape.  He says the water savings is the biggest benefit.  The second is its durability.  The warranty for turf is about 8 years, but synthetic lawn can last 10 to 15 years. 

The hot desert sun can definitely heat up the surface of artificial grass, reaching 130 to 140 degrees in the middle of a summer day.  But Jackson says a squirt of water cools it down quickly enough for the kids to play on it - even in the heat of the day.   And unlike rock which can hold heat for hours even after the sun has left it, turf cools down very quickly once the hot sun moves away, so it doesn’t hold heat around your home like desert rock can.

 Green Living Services also sells a product called, Fresh Fill.  It’s made entirely of crushed natural zeolite - which is volcanic rock - and it neutralizes pet odor when Fido picks out a favorite spot for doing his business.  Sprinkled over the turf, Fresh Fill is 100% safe for pets and kids.  It also helps keep the turf cooler as a substitute for water.

Jackson says turf is durable and clean.  He thinks it’s the perfect answer for saving water, time and the chemicals of fertilizers and polluting emissions of gas-powered lawn mowers.  You can give him a call at 367-TURF and check out their website at www.AGDwest.com  Harry also says you can e-mail him directly at harry@AGDwest.com; he’d like to hear from you.

You might think washing your car at home - instead of taking it to a car wash - saves both money and water.  But more professional car washes are turning green, so they not only save you time, but they also save water for everyone.

Terrible Herbst Car Washes have installed hi-tech water recycling equipment in almost half of their nearly 40 locations in Southern Nevada.  Water from the car wash tunnel is recovered and moved into 1500-gallon storage tanks below the cement driveway.  The mud and sediment is separated from the water, then the used water is sent back inside to the Pur Water recycling system where it’s cleaned and sent back to the tunnel to wash more cars.  The company estimates they use 20 to 30 gallons of water per car, while washing yours at home can use anywhere from 50 to 100 gallons - or more!   And that water goes into the gutter and the soapy suds get sent right out to Lake Mead.

The Terrible Herbst company also uses phosphate-free cleansers and polishes, which rinse easier during the wash process and also break down easily in the water stream.  Going green is Terrible’s way of being a better steward of the environment because their mainstay is one of our most precious resources: water!

The Southern Nevada Water Authority supports professional car wahses like Terrible Herbst because they focus on saving water and helping the environment.  Terrible’s is part of the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Water Smart Car Wash program.  You can get discount coupons for a variety of professional car washes in town.  So you can save yourself money and feel good saving water, too for all of us.

Have you got a beautiful and water-smart yard that you feel deserves some recognition?  The Southern Nevda Water Authority’s annual Lancscape Awards are now underway.  They are looking for landscapes that have both beauty and brains!

Properly irrigated water-efficient landscapes can use up to 75% LESS water than traditional grass lawns!  The SNWA’s Landscape Awards honor residential and professional water-smart landscapes that are both attractive and funtional.  The contest is open to water service areas of Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas Laughlin and unincorporated Clark County.

Head to their website for the rules and the entry form.  The deadline is April 24, so you have a few weeks to spruce up the yard.  Good luck!

It’s Fix a Leak Week!  If you’ve been avoiding replacing that inexpensive washer in your leaky faucet  - you may not realize how much money that annoying drip is costing you.  Water leaks around the home can add up to 11,000 gallons of wasted water a year.  That’s enough to fill up a backyard swimming pool.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency want to remind you that water waste is most often an easy fix and could plug up big leaks in your wallet.  For instance, a leaky faucet that drips at one drip per second can waste more than 3000 gallons of water a year.  A running toilet could be wasting 200 gallons a day!  And it may only take replacing the flapper in the tank.  A dripping showerhead could be losing enough water to wash 60 loads of dishes in your dishwasher.

Easy tests around the home will help you find leaks in plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems.  For more info or to request a free indoor water audit kit, go to snwa.com.

It’s time to change that sprinkler clock again!  The Spring Watering Schedule kicks in Sunday, March 1.  Each watering group will now get three assigned watering days a week, with Sunday still off limits.  For some of us, smashing your thumb with a hammer is more appealing than dealing with that little green monster clock box on your garage wall.   It’s only 4 times a year, but it’s always painful.

And the Southern Nevada Water Authority knows that, so they want to make complying with the restrictions as simple as possible for customers.  They’re testing 6 different models of what they call, “watering assistants” that will take the pain and worry out of watering your lawn.  Currently there are about 500 homes participating in the study and they need another 60 to 70 residences or commercial businesses.  A conservationist from SNWA will come to your home or business and install the brainy gadget.  All you have to do is make sure it’s set to your correct watering group: A,B,C, etc., and you’re good to go.  The watering days and cycles will be automatic.  And when the seasons change - so will your sprinklers!  Fabulous.

Participants must have 25% lawn to qualify for the study.  If SNWA finds that one or more of the watering assistants is effective for conserving water and convenient for customers, then they’ll consider bringing that technology to the valley and making it available for customers who need a “girl Friday” to get the watering job done!  Here’s the link to sign up for the study!

It makes perfect sense to build energy-smart homes in the desert!  And especially ones that could even pay homeowners back during the hot summer months.  In a cooperative effort between the UNLV Center for Energy Research, Pulte Homes and NV Energy, the first-ever green community is going up in Summerlin.    

Villa Trieste will eventually have 185 homes, ranging from about 1500 to 1900 sq. feet and priced in the low $200s.  All will have cutting-edge, energy-saving features like roof-integrated solar power to help create energy for the home, real-time energy meters inside the house that will communicate directly with the utility company when the power demand increases at peak afternoon hours, as well as improved ventilation, thermal systems, HVAC equipment and water conservation features.

The community is actually a research project, funded by a $7 million grant from the Dept. of Energy.  UNLV researchers will monitor home performance once they are occupied.  The goal is to find ways to reduce peak energy consumption by more than 65% compared to a typical new home development.  Hopefully it’s just the beginning of new and smart eco-friendly ways to construct homes in the hot desert southwest.

The grand opening to view the models for Villa Trieste is Saturday, January 10.  The homes are located off the I-215 Beltway west.  The first phase is expected to open in April of this year.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority releases a Drought Monitor report each month.  The November report doesn’t have a lot of great news.  It looks like the drought will linger.  Our annual rainfall is well below normal, and the inflow of water into Lake Powell is only about 67% of normal.  That means Lake Mead won’t be filling up for a long time.  Storage capacity at the lake is less than half of normal and the lake level is sitting at 1108 feet.  That’s more than a hundred feet lower than back in 2000.  You can check out the latest report right here.  drought-update-11-18-08

A pool is great fun, but it can be a real drain on your energy bill.  Now local utility companies - NV Energy and the Southern Nevada Water Authority - are helping to fill your wallet with some terrific rebates.

Upgrading the pool pump to a new energy efficient model can help you save up to 80% on your pool’s power consumption, plus you can get a cash dividend on your investment.  NV Energy is offering rebates up to $200 on two-speed or variable speed pool pumps. 

A pool cover can save thousands of gallons of water a year, normally lost to evaporation. SNWA is offering a pool cover instant rebate coupon for 50% off a solar cover up to $50 and half off a permanently installed cover, up to $200.

Ask your pool guy or local pool supply store about the rebates. Or visit SNWA.com and NVEnergy.com to learn more about these money-saving programs. You can also go to NV Energy’s website for more information.