Water Saving Superstars

Water Saving Superstars, Roger and Cindy Davenport

Here is their story:

Just six and half years after moving in to their Oceanside residence, Roger and Cindy Davenport have transformed their home into a water and energy-saving oasis. One of the first things they did was remove high water use plants from their front and back lawns and replace them with mulch, fruit and nut trees, and California native plants. A few years later, they started intercepting rainwater by purchasing several 55-gallon drums. They filled up so quickly that they decided to purchase a 1700 gallon cistern to which they connected all their rainwater drainage from the roof of the house. Roger recalls how effective it has been in saving water. “We got one good rainstorm in November 2013 that just about filled it up. I put a small submersible pump in it and we used that over the spring of 2014 to water our trees. This “rainy” season, it filled up when we had the good rains in November, and we’ve been drawing it down so there will be room for more water in the hope that it will rain again. Right now, it’s about half full. We turned our watering system off in November or December and haven’t used any significant amount of city water for watering plants since then. Just last weekend, I put a 40-gallon tank on the brick wall just above our raised bed, and filled it with rainwater from the cistern so Cindy could use it to start watering the garden. I also added a 35-gallon tank to the 55-gallon barrel we have on the downspout of our garage. It’s been a very rewarding experience for us!”

Some other steps the Davenports have taken to be more water and energy efficient are to go 100% solar with a solar electric system and having a solar hot water heating system. They also use an “EcoWasher™” ozone-based laundry system which doesn’t require any soap or hot water to clean clothes, their laundry graywater is used for watering flowerbeds, and they have plans to intercept all bathroom sink, shower, and tub drains in order to get more water for their trees. Cindy and Roger are recognized as extraordinary water-savers in the City of Oceanside and serve as a model for all residents in saving water and energy in their homes!

Water-Saving Spotlight