Requiring the developers of the proposed 1,650-home Trails of Manteca project to use recycled wastewater to irrigate 75 acres of parkland is a good start but it doesn’t go far enough.
What is needed are purple pipe stubs for all front yards of every single family home in the neighborhood as well. It is one of the things the city can do to make owning a home more affordable.
There is a misconception that affordable housing simply involves the monthly mortgage payment. That is simply not true. There are issues such as taxes, energy costs, upkeep, and water use that go in to determining housing affordability.
The largest use of water by far involving residential property is watering grass.
Let’s say extending purple pipe to every home adds $400 to the cost of the purchase price. If water use can be cut enough by using free recycled wastewater in front yards to save a homeowner $10 a month, they will recoup the portion of their purchase price that paid for the purple pipe in 40 months.
It gets better. Expensive drinking water won’t be used to water grass and ultimately spill into gutters and down storm drains. It means less water needed to be treated for drinking. That reduces costs and expands the surface water treatment plant’s capacity at the same time in terms of how many residents it can serve.
It also would help Manteca avoid - or at least delay - the need for expensive land disposal of treated wastewater that is expected to be a mandate one day as the state keeps tightening water standards in the Delta. Forget the fact the water Manteca releases from the wastewater treatment plant into the San Joaquin River is cleaner than what is already flowing in it. The state isn’t interested in such details.
The front yards would have a dual system - one for city drinking water and the other for treated recycled wastewater. The only real difference for plants and lawns is the fact one costs the homeowner money and the other would be free.
By not providing purple water faucets in back yards it alleviates any fears that somehow purple pipe water isn’t good to use in case someone’s growing vegetables or fruit. Recycled wastewater is used on crops elsewhere in California. People, though, have a hard time getting past the fact that recycled wastewater is used to grow food.
There would be nothing stopping people from running hoses from purple faucets to water ornamental landscaping in back yards to further reduce their water costs. Purple water can also be used to wash cars.
Mayor Willie Weatherford has harped on the need to use recycled wastewater for years to reduce future costs for both the city and residents. He also has noted that the commodity itself - recycled treated wastewater -is fairly expensive. By simply dumping it back in the river it is ultimately benefiting Los Angeles at Manteca ratepayers’ expense.
As for concerns the recycled wastewater won’t make its way back into the river, whatever runs off lawns goes down the storm drain and ultimately empties into the San Joaquin the river. The water is still getting back into the natural cycle whether it is through evaporation or percolation into the ground.
It is highly unlikely that any council member will step up and try to upgrade the purple pipe requirement when the Trails of Manteca comes before them sometime next month. For whatever reason, they prefer staff to set policy in certain areas. It took years for Weatherford’s purple pipe suggestion to get at least enough traction to be required as a condition for development in connection with parkland.
Perhaps the council will add purple piping for front yards in new neighborhoods as a mandate in the city’s water plan for development to follow.
It is a green idea that makes a lot of sense in terms of the environment as well as the pocketbook.
What is needed are purple pipe stubs for all front yards of every single family home in the neighborhood as well. It is one of the things the city can do to make owning a home more affordable.
There is a misconception that affordable housing simply involves the monthly mortgage payment. That is simply not true. There are issues such as taxes, energy costs, upkeep, and water use that go in to determining housing affordability.
The largest use of water by far involving residential property is watering grass.
Let’s say extending purple pipe to every home adds $400 to the cost of the purchase price. If water use can be cut enough by using free recycled wastewater in front yards to save a homeowner $10 a month, they will recoup the portion of their purchase price that paid for the purple pipe in 40 months.
It gets better. Expensive drinking water won’t be used to water grass and ultimately spill into gutters and down storm drains. It means less water needed to be treated for drinking. That reduces costs and expands the surface water treatment plant’s capacity at the same time in terms of how many residents it can serve.
It also would help Manteca avoid - or at least delay - the need for expensive land disposal of treated wastewater that is expected to be a mandate one day as the state keeps tightening water standards in the Delta. Forget the fact the water Manteca releases from the wastewater treatment plant into the San Joaquin River is cleaner than what is already flowing in it. The state isn’t interested in such details.
The front yards would have a dual system - one for city drinking water and the other for treated recycled wastewater. The only real difference for plants and lawns is the fact one costs the homeowner money and the other would be free.
By not providing purple water faucets in back yards it alleviates any fears that somehow purple pipe water isn’t good to use in case someone’s growing vegetables or fruit. Recycled wastewater is used on crops elsewhere in California. People, though, have a hard time getting past the fact that recycled wastewater is used to grow food.
There would be nothing stopping people from running hoses from purple faucets to water ornamental landscaping in back yards to further reduce their water costs. Purple water can also be used to wash cars.
Mayor Willie Weatherford has harped on the need to use recycled wastewater for years to reduce future costs for both the city and residents. He also has noted that the commodity itself - recycled treated wastewater -is fairly expensive. By simply dumping it back in the river it is ultimately benefiting Los Angeles at Manteca ratepayers’ expense.
As for concerns the recycled wastewater won’t make its way back into the river, whatever runs off lawns goes down the storm drain and ultimately empties into the San Joaquin the river. The water is still getting back into the natural cycle whether it is through evaporation or percolation into the ground.
It is highly unlikely that any council member will step up and try to upgrade the purple pipe requirement when the Trails of Manteca comes before them sometime next month. For whatever reason, they prefer staff to set policy in certain areas. It took years for Weatherford’s purple pipe suggestion to get at least enough traction to be required as a condition for development in connection with parkland.
Perhaps the council will add purple piping for front yards in new neighborhoods as a mandate in the city’s water plan for development to follow.
It is a green idea that makes a lot of sense in terms of the environment as well as the pocketbook.
