Mailbag

Department rewards reckless

The Glendale Department of Water & Power is following an ongoing tradition of rewarding those who were reckless and punishing those who were responsible (“Utility backs tighter laws,” Monday). After purchasing my house in Glendale, I spent thousands of dollars redoing the plumbing, installing a recirculation system and pump so the hot water from the heater in the garage is pumped to the bathrooms at the far end of the house. This keeps us from having to run the water wastefully while waiting for it to come out warm.

I replaced the dishwasher and washing machine with energy efficient units, took out the Jacuzzi, removed the reverse-osmosis system and put in a filter instead. The toilets were replaced with low-flow models, and the sprinkler system was modified to use drip where possible. All this was completed before 2006 and my water usage has already been cut significantly.

For all my efforts, if I can’t reduce usage another 10%, I will have to pay a non-refundable $50 to explain myself. Meanwhile, those who have been wasteful will have no problem cutting 10%. This clearly sends a signal to people to never make the necessary changes until fines start appearing. How about setting the fine for people using more than the amount of water they used in 2006 and banning reverse osmosis equipment?

MICHAEL BALDRIDGE

Glendale

Water restrictions favor wasteful

The current restrictions outlined in the Glendale News-Press article are unfair.

In my home, we greatly restricted out water use in 2000 with xeriscaping the garden — replacing the lawn with pebble gravel, installing drip watering, etc.

By 2006 we were way down. Now we will be penalized because others continued to be profligate with water use long after it was obviously necessary to cut back.

It would be much fairer if the Glendale Water & Power Commission established a reasonable volume of use per person as the baseline. Otherwise, the previously wasteful will be favored.

HUGH WATTS

Glendale

Conservation rules will backfire