In the face of a dire drought in California, companies continue to use inefficient watering methods to control and reduce dust. Without massive changes to the way the state handles dust control, the Golden State could be facing an extra thirsty tomorrow.
2015 marks the fourth year of California’s record-breaking drought, and water restrictions have been put in place across the state to conserve the precious resource. On June 1st, ABC7 reported Governor Jerry Brown’s order that cities make deep cuts on consumption to save water usage by an average of 25%.
According to the Los Angeles Times, California’s water reservoirs only have enough of a reserve supply left for approximately one year, underscoring the extreme urgency of the situation.
The state’s supply of groundwater, the only backup source, is disappearing rapidly, which brings the added repercussion of severe damage to the ground infrastructure.
Tattle Tales
The situation is so dire that many states are offering residents cash to rip out lawns, giving homeowners hefty fines for over-watering yards and plants, and repeatedly appealing to the public to decrease their water usage. Some restaurants have even started charging customers for tap water.
And as California has now imposed a $500-per-day fine for water abuse, it’s no surprise that residents have taken dealing the blame into their own hands.
According to NBC, the trend of “drought shaming” has taken off – neighbors who spot illicit use report the incident to authorities before publicly shaming the offender on social media. Last year, Sacramento authorities alone fielded over ten-thousand calls from residents to report water waste.
The lack of water has become a significant concern for industrial agents who rely on water for material processes and preventative safety measures like dust control.
As companies have become forced to decide between using potable water for operations and willingly creating unsafe or unhealthy conditions, the topic’s controversiality has only heightened. Increasingly, the lines between acceptable protocol and water waste have become blurred.
As the Dust Settles…
The responsibilities of all industrial operations in California have once again come under the spotlight – companies must, at a minimum, take precautions to conserve water by making use of things like booster pumps and misting nozzles.
This way, the sector can regain the trust of the general public by showing its commitment to the environment and society, and partner with water-conscious suppliers.
For nearly 4 decades, Midwest Industrial Supply, Inc. has offered environmentally safe solutions to a wide range of heavy industries whose success depends on preventing or reducing airborne dust.
California residents, businesses, and industrial firms will be relieved to know that Midwest’s Synthetic Organic Dust Control® solutions eliminate the need for frequent, resource-depleting watering.
EnviroKleen®, the most environmentally safe dust control product on the market, offers more reliability and greater dust level reductions than any other available product or service on the market.
Alternatively, Californians can opt for Midwest’s environmentally-sound Newtrol™ product, a high-performance, glycerin-based dust suppressant with humectant and binding characteristics that has proven highly effective in suppressing dust in the long term.
If the drought is not relieved by sufficient rainfall in the near future, Californians can rest assured that their search for water-conserving dust control products is over.
(Image credit: David Hopkins/flickr)
