WATER CONSERVATION FACTS
When It’s Summer Our yards need water
Please help to conserve this precious resource!
· Less than 3% of the Earth’s water supply is fresh water, and only about 1% of the earth’s water is available for drinking water.
· Water your lawn only when it needs it. If you step on the grass and it springs back up when you move, it doesn’t need water. If it stays flat, it needs water.
· Water lawns during the early morning hours or late evening to reduce loss from evaporation.
· Water your grass and trees more heavily, but less often, to save water and build stronger roots.
· A leaky faucet can waste 100 gallons a day.
· One of the best ways to conserve water is to buy recycled goods, and to recycle your stuff when you’re done with it. Recycling a pound of paper saves about 3.5 gallons of water.
· Buying recycled paper products saves water too, as it takes about six gallons of water to produce a dollar’s worth of paper.
Key Tips for Reducing Water Pollutants
Water pollution can come from a variety of sources. Soil, grass clippings, fertilizer, pesticides, paint thinners, and motor oil can pollute water if picked up by storm water runoff or running into the street from over-watering.
Keep fertilizer, pesticides, soil, mulch, and yard waste (grass clippings, tree leaves, twigs) off paved surfaces. Sweep them onto the lawn or use yard waste in compost. Do not sweep or hose them into the street. Read and follow label directions.
Over 73 different kinds of pesticides have been found in U.S. groundwater that eventually ends up in our drinking water – unless it is adequately filtered.
→ Store and dispose of household hazardous waste (pesticides, paints, paint thinners, cleaning products, oil, anti-freeze, etc.) according to label directions. Do not dump them into the sink or toilet, street gutter or ditch, storm drain, or onto the ground.
→ Pick up litter and recycle it or put it in the trash.
→ Scoop pet feces and securely bag and place in the trash for disposal.
→ Do not stockpile soil, mulch, or other bulk materials on paved surfaces during lawn and landscape projects.
If you’ve used chemicals on your lawn or garden, they may contaminate the water that runs off from rains or your sprinkler system.
Even nontreated lawn clippings do harm. When they decompose, they release carbon and nitrogen that feeds undesirable algae, which, in turn, use up oxygen in the water, contributing to fish kills.
It is important for construction sites to be properly managed. When land is cleared it causes soil erosion that leads to silt run-off and sediment pollution that ends up on our streets, eventually in our storm sewers. The EPA has rules for Construction Site Runoff Control.
Check with our City Development Department at 713-662-8260 with any questions or to report concerns about issues with a construction site in your neighborhood.
Construction on the new Bellaire High school is complete. The original building was demolished during the week of July 13-17, 2021. 
FEMA imposes requirements for new structures and limits on existing structures in flood zones. Check with Development Services for more information,
