RIGHT ON!!!!!

Your "stupid" neighbors are "everywhere". Last October I saw people watering down their driveways to clean them!!!,but ALL outdoor watering had been banned! People with well water can water ALL they want,water runs down the street gutters.................what's with that?

Hi Ken, this may be a stupid question, but what is an evaporative cooler? AC? or...

paula - an evaporative cooler is something that is used in summer in dry climates, as an alternative to air-conditioning. As you know over here, we have hot humid summers (where an evaporative cooler would be useless). Whereas in the west, they have hot dry summers. The evaporative cooler basically sucks the hot air in a room inside it, that heat gets absorbed by the water that they hold (which evaporates), and then the unit releases that hot air outside and blows the cooler misty air inside using a fan. Sortof like the evaporative humidifier in my bedroom is doing right now for me in my very dry apartment during winter.

Here is a good site that explains the principle. The site is the home of one of the more well known evaporative coolers called the "Swamp Cooler". I expect the point of the post is to note that these coolers require water to function (and the units need to be constantly filled - I guess either manually or from the tap). And if the homeowner has an external unit that is leaking, that is a waste of precious water, especially considering that much of the high plains areas east of the Rockies in Colorado, are in a severe drought (although fortunately, I understand the mountain areas have been getting some beneficial snow that should help those other areas as runoff if the snows continue through winter).

Thanks, Jenny, I think now I remember the principle explained in the first air conditioner invented, by the Carrier guy, or the other, who I can't remember now.
Ken, you know what, if you can't get anybody to care, why not hook up a hose to that leak somehow, and take it for yourself. Heck, if no one cares, fine, "I'll take it".

I live in Tucson and have a 'swamp' cooler. They don't waste water as much as you might think. There is a pan on the bottom that store the water, it is pumped up to the top of the cooler, comes out of a "spider" (hose with 1/4 in. dia. and 3-5 branches)onto the pads, which are 4 in. deep, made of paper. The pads get wet, and a fan blows thru them causing moist cool air, which is then sent thru the vents into the house. Moist air is cooler than dry, and evaporation also causes heat to be dispersed. The water in the pan is re-cycled thru the unit and added to as needed. In dry climes like ours they are more energy efficient than air conditioning. So... the bottom line is ... it's a trade off between water usage and electricity usage.

There are 15 houses on my road and all of them except mine have swamp coolers. On several of them the roofs are stained from water dribbling down in a constant trickle every summer. And behind me is a two-storey apartment complex where you can often hear the water running off the roofs day and night all summer. My house is an old frame and stucco contraption painted a very light color, with single pane sliding aluminum windows, so not particularly energy efficient, but I've yet to be uncomfortable inside even when it's 100 degrees outside. I'm old-fashion in that during the day I keep it closed up with aluminum foil panels on the east and west windows and heavy drapes on all the windows. When I had it reroofed, I made sure the shingles were off-white. Of course, I'm lucky that I'm in the high desert where it gets cool at night no matter how hot in the day, and at night all my windows are wide open to get the cool, fresh air. The way I see it with swamp coolers, which as I understand it can use thousands of gallons of water over a summer, is that even if they used only a tablespoon of water, it's water I'd rather put on the garden. What really bugs me is that none of my offending neighbors even have gardens. The water they waste just puddles off into the clay or sand. And complaints are just whistles in the wind.

And now you know how us folks in Northern CA felt back in the '80's, when we had severe 25% water restrictions while the Southern CA folks were happily washing their driveways down and drowning their wasteful Palm Springs golf courses!

There was a reason for the West's 'water wars', unfortunately.

Don't complain to the water department, complain to the local media about the water wasters.

Nothing gets action like being on the 6 O'clock news, shown as a waterwaster or as a department that does nothing about reports of water wasting.

I have to admit that I have a neighbor whose IQ barely makes the Richter Scale. I was busy pulling weeds, shaking off the mud from the roots when I hear the audible sound of sprinklers coming from next door. SHE WAS WATERING HER LAWN! It left me speechless. Because we are no longer on speaking terms, I didn't say anything but with a major six year drought going, I was, and still am livid at this doughead. Sorry, had to vent.

Before calling local media (or any officialdom) to report water wasters, make sure you're not in a retaliation zone. I just had the back of my house splashed with paint bombs because I reported a couple of nasty kids to the cops. The stuff is water soluble and can be hosed off easily, but think of the amount of water I wasted washing a 40' facade.

I would never report on my neighbor. Her MO is to call the local human services office to say that anyone who crosses her are bad parents. Atleast that's her weapon of choice.