Did you know the federal government regulates how much water a showerhead is allowed to put out per minute? They do. In the face of such idiocy, #4 is a rational response. Though I did notice the last time I shopped for a removable showerhead, that some brands are now advertising that they have an "easily removed flow limiter!" so there's that at least.
The feds are also the reason that toilets clog more and need to be cleaned manually after every use, and the reason that you can't buy a washing machine that actually gets clothing clean anymore.
All this because California has water supply problems. There are no such problems where I live, just the problem of living with shitty non-functional appliances. Such regulations made even less sense when I was living in a rain forest in Hawaii. It would have made more sense to design the appliances for a 55 gallon "pre-washing rinse cycle" to save on detergent!
"Economy" means different things in different places, and having the feds force us all to economize the same way costs us billions each year. And therefore also the associated lifestyle increases we'd otherwise have.
They think they have the right to dictate such to us, mostly because the costs associated with domestic water supply aren't actually charged to customers. "Because people would freak out if they were!" according to my brother who's in the department of the interior. Just another example of government interference screwing with proper resource allocation, and getting band-aid fixes that make things even worse for everybody.
They are coming after your propane BBQ grill next. Well anything with an open flame hooked up to a propane tank or natural gas. They already got stoves. They amount of water wasted waiting for water to get hot at a low flo faucet wastes any water savings.
We travel back and forth to the same hotels for work. The hotels usually put us in blocks or room away from the 'normal' guests. Every time a new hotel gets our contract, it doesn't take more than a few months for every room on our 'block' to have the restrictor's removed from every shower head.
This is why I like the 3hr "power wash" function and I use smaller loads which results in more loads and water used to get everything clean. When I get my own place, I'll probably just wash my cloths twice before throwing them into a dryer with a "power dry" option, I.E skip the energy efficiency and just get it dry with constant heat.
I'm tempted to see how garden nozzles work for showers since they don't have flow restrictions. I can only imagine how nice a shower under my rainmaker nozzle would be, especially coming out of a 3/4ths pipe @ 80 PSI.
I'll second that I hate the idocy of one size fits all. I live where there's 32 inches of rain a year and the shower puts out minimal flow. I just visited a number of people that live in the desert (Vegas, Phoenix, Death Valley) and every last one of them had significantly higher water flow in the shower.
The city of Portland is surrounded by 4 rivers; the Columbia to the north, Clackamas to the south, Sandy to the east, and divided by the Willamette. Portland is all gah-gah about water conservation. By the way: the Columbia dumps 1300 metric cubic yards of fresh water into the Pacific Ocean every second.
Always carry a pliars, adjustable wrench and small screwdriver in places like Colorado. So you can remove the flow reducer in the Hotel shower head and get a decent shower.
Regarding the difficulty in getting whites clean: hit your local hardware store & pick up a 1-2 lb bucket of TSP. A tablespoon or so in each load of whites does the job that phosphate-containing detergents used to do. Each time I add TSP to my whites, I think, “Fuck you, greenie assholes!”
We used our FAB-250 (old stile Russian) tail fins for barstools at Graf. At Fort Lee, we cut up an old stile U.S. 500 pounder for a grill. Things bomb disposal guys do while waiting for the next call. Eod1sg Ret
used to know a machinist who made his own shower set up. weird at first, but after looking at it. it was amazing. what he did was run 4 pipes in each corner with jets every 10 inches or so to wash his body and he had another 2 pipes on top with 4 shower heads on it. what he said he did was step in , get wet and soap up. hit the rinse and shampoo last. he said it cut his time in half or better after work. pretty sure he made it at work too. made it all out of stainless, it looked real nice though. dave in pa.
I built some new shelves in my bathroom. Took a couple black iron nipples, a ell, a cap and a flange and made a toilet paper holder. Screwed the flange to the bottom of the shelf. Works slick. It was stuff I had in the shop.
I really like that bedliner idea. That's a million dollar idea for the right marketing guy. As far as low flow showers go, carry vice grips and a pocket knife to fix that problem in motels. Now if there was some sort of way to get hot water instead of luke warm 'safety temperature' water...
First thing the wifey unit and I do at any hotel room is replace the shower head with the extra we carry for trips. High water flow plus drilled out. Unscrew the hotel one, put ours on. When we check out, we put their hunk of junk back on. Ken
Did you know the federal government regulates how much water a showerhead is allowed to put out per minute? They do. In the face of such idiocy, #4 is a rational response. Though I did notice the last time I shopped for a removable showerhead, that some brands are now advertising that they have an "easily removed flow limiter!" so there's that at least.
ReplyDeleteThe feds are also the reason that toilets clog more and need to be cleaned manually after every use, and the reason that you can't buy a washing machine that actually gets clothing clean anymore.
All this because California has water supply problems. There are no such problems where I live, just the problem of living with shitty non-functional appliances. Such regulations made even less sense when I was living in a rain forest in Hawaii. It would have made more sense to design the appliances for a 55 gallon "pre-washing rinse cycle" to save on detergent!
"Economy" means different things in different places, and having the feds force us all to economize the same way costs us billions each year. And therefore also the associated lifestyle increases we'd otherwise have.
They think they have the right to dictate such to us, mostly because the costs associated with domestic water supply aren't actually charged to customers. "Because people would freak out if they were!" according to my brother who's in the department of the interior. Just another example of government interference screwing with proper resource allocation, and getting band-aid fixes that make things even worse for everybody.
John G
They are coming after your propane BBQ grill next. Well anything with an open flame hooked up to a propane tank or natural gas. They already got stoves. They amount of water wasted waiting for water to get hot at a low flo faucet wastes any water savings.
DeleteWe travel back and forth to the same hotels for work. The hotels usually put us in blocks or room away from the 'normal' guests. Every time a new hotel gets our contract, it doesn't take more than a few months for every room on our 'block' to have the restrictor's removed from every shower head.
DeleteThis is why I like the 3hr "power wash" function and I use smaller loads which results in more loads and water used to get everything clean. When I get my own place, I'll probably just wash my cloths twice before throwing them into a dryer with a "power dry" option, I.E skip the energy efficiency and just get it dry with constant heat.
DeleteI'm tempted to see how garden nozzles work for showers since they don't have flow restrictions. I can only imagine how nice a shower under my rainmaker nozzle would be, especially coming out of a 3/4ths pipe @ 80 PSI.
- Arc
I'll second that I hate the idocy of one size fits all. I live where there's 32 inches of rain a year and the shower puts out minimal flow. I just visited a number of people that live in the desert (Vegas, Phoenix, Death Valley) and every last one of them had significantly higher water flow in the shower.
DeleteThe city of Portland is surrounded by 4 rivers; the Columbia to the north, Clackamas to the south, Sandy to the east, and divided by the Willamette. Portland is all gah-gah about water conservation. By the way: the Columbia dumps 1300 metric cubic yards of fresh water into the Pacific Ocean every second.
DeleteIf you have a working drill, all flow restrictors are "easily removable".
DeleteAlways carry a pliars, adjustable wrench and small screwdriver in places like Colorado. So you can remove the flow reducer in the Hotel shower head and get a decent shower.
DeleteRegarding the difficulty in getting whites clean: hit your local hardware store & pick up a 1-2 lb bucket of TSP. A tablespoon or so in each load of whites does the job that phosphate-containing detergents used to do. Each time I add TSP to my whites, I think, “Fuck you, greenie assholes!”
DeleteThat pickup bed liner isn't all that bad of an idea.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing. And it’ll never wear out.
DeleteWell, you can always check it with a penny if it is getting a little thin
DeleteI go down to the feed store and buy rubber stall mat by the foot. 1/4 the price of a "bed mat"
DeleteWas wondering how they made it lay so flat? Construction adhesive because its never wearing out...
DeleteWe used our FAB-250 (old stile Russian) tail fins for barstools at Graf. At Fort Lee, we cut up an old stile U.S. 500 pounder for a grill. Things bomb disposal guys do while waiting for the next call. Eod1sg Ret
ReplyDeleteHow did they get them so flat?
ReplyDeleteTook them off a new dodge
DeleteProbably glued them in
DeleteMaybe glued or screwed to plywood first
Deleteused to know a machinist who made his own shower set up. weird at first, but after looking at it. it was amazing. what he did was run 4 pipes in each corner with jets every 10 inches or so
ReplyDeleteto wash his body and he had another 2 pipes on top with 4 shower heads on it.
what he said he did was step in , get wet and soap up. hit the rinse and shampoo last.
he said it cut his time in half or better after work. pretty sure he made it at work too.
made it all out of stainless, it looked real nice though. dave in pa.
They let the air out!
ReplyDeleteNeck
Some pretty good ideas here.
ReplyDeleteThey had to have been glued and screwed to an underlaymemt…
ReplyDeleteI built some new shelves in my bathroom. Took a couple black iron nipples, a ell, a cap and a flange and made a toilet paper holder. Screwed the flange to the bottom of the shelf. Works slick. It was stuff I had in the shop.
ReplyDeleteYa gotta admire Redneck ingenuity. That fan/ice bucket setup does work. Similar to what people in AZ call a swamp cooler.
ReplyDeleteBefore you could buy it in a store someone had to come up with an idea to fill a need then build it
ReplyDeleteJD
I really like that bedliner idea. That's a million dollar idea for the right marketing guy.
ReplyDeleteAs far as low flow showers go, carry vice grips and a pocket knife to fix that problem in motels.
Now if there was some sort of way to get hot water instead of luke warm 'safety temperature' water...
The thing that intrigued me was the thought the treads from the four old tires would just about cover the bed.
DeleteBedliner is my winner ,10 bucks to dispose of used tires in the corruption state.
ReplyDeleteA piece!
First thing the wifey unit and I do at any hotel room is replace the shower head with the extra we carry for trips. High water flow plus drilled out. Unscrew the hotel one, put ours on. When we check out, we put their hunk of junk back on.
ReplyDeleteKen
I actually felt uplifted at the shower door. Then the bed liner, both are pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteWimpy showers sukk.