Taking on Water: How One Water Expert Challenged Her Inner Hypocrite, Reduced Her Water Footprint (Without Sacrificing a Toasty Shower), and Found Nirvana

by Wendy J. Pabich

When Wendy Pabich received a monthly water bill for 30,000 gallons (for a household of two people and one dog), she was chagrined. After all, she is an expert on sustainable water use. So she set out to make a change. Taking on Water is the story of the author's personal quest to extract and implement, from a dizzying soup of data and analysis, day-to-day solutions to reduce water use in her life. She sets out to examine the water footprint of the products she consumes, process her own wastewater onsite, revamp the water and energy systems in her home, and make appropriate choices in order to swim the swim. Part memoir, part investigation, part solution manual, the book is filled with ruminations on philosophy, science, facts, figures, and personal behavioral insights; metrics, both serious and humorous, to track progress; and guidelines for the general public for making small (or perhaps monumental) but important changes in their own lives. Told with humor and grace, Taking on Water offers a raw account of how deep we need to dig to change our wasteful ways.

Genres: Environment, Nonfiction

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 18, 2012

About the author

Wendy J. Pabich (pronounced PA-bick) is an environmental scientist, educator, adventurer, and artist obsessed with all things water (www.waterdeva.com). As the founder and president of Water Futures, Inc. (www.waterfuturesinc.com), Wendy finds innovative solutions to one of the planet's most pressing problems — the quest for sustainable water. Her passion for mountains, outdoor adventure, and other cultures takes her to places near and far, including Alaska, Patagonia, and the Himalayas, where she explores on skis, on foot, and by water. She has taught for MIT and the Sierra Institute, and she holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the Parsons Water Resources Laboratory at MIT, an MS in Urban Studies and Planning from MIT, an MS in Geology (coastal) from Duke University, and a BA in Geography from Dartmouth College. She lives in Hailey, ID.

Reviews

[brinley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book irked me for a few reasons:

1. Not all of us are home owners. The entirety of this book is how she retrofitted her home to conserve water in her own ecosystem. The title would be more appropriate if it read: A Homeowner's Guide to Reducing Your Water Footprint.
2. Not all of us have PhD's in engineering. Often throughout the narrative, she reminds us of just how educated she is. It's quite obvious that she is upper-middle class, and she continuously mentions all of the education she received at various ivy league schools. Her writing is not dense or scholarly, and is actually pretty accessible, but this annoyed me. It came off in an uppity tone. Aside from that, she didn't make it very easy for someone (like me) who doesn't have any plumbing knowledge/engineering experience (I know how to use a plunger and that's about the extent)to do most of the things that she's done.
3. The focus is on her personal water use. I think it's valuable for people to realize that they can do small things to conserve water (like fixing leaks, replacing toilets, washing machines or shower heads w/low-flow devices, don't buy water bottles, bla bla bla), but I think what's more valuable is understanding our water policies (locally, nationally, and globally) and encouraging engineers, representatives, farmers etc. to fix broken policies.
4. She writes about buying things used and being on a budget, but few of us have the privilege of having her type of budget, despite how tight she makes it sound. She doesn't offer much as far as other options of other, less expensive things, or ideas that are not as time-costly.
5. She talks about the process she went through in installing new fixtures and things, but I think it would have helped if there were illustrations. She mentions herself that she doesn't read instruction manuals. Without seeing anything that she's doing, her process is abstracted and is not easy to follow along (at least for me).
6. Despite all these, there were parts of this book that were interesting, and I could see myself maybe getting along with her personally. I don't think I'd recommend this book, though.

[Annmarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of an environmental scientist in Idaho's Sun Valley area who decides to embark on a home water conservation project. Hippie scientist explores water conservation options in the west, basically. The Sun Valley area only gets about 16 inches of rain a year, so the habits she had from east coast living didn't translate well after she moved to Idaho. She narrates her investigations of options and her scientific exploration of her and her husband's water use (installing meters in the house to try and pinpoint the use per device, for ex.). They focus on the "reduce, reuse, and recycle" mantra, in that order. She shares brief interesting and unreassuring details about water troubles and conflicts in various locales, like the declining aquifer in her area, Atlanta, Bolinas CA, and Las Vegas. It's a pretty good read for those interested in the topic who don't want a how-to book, though I wouldn't rate it as the most riveting narrative nonfiction I've ever read. I could see it going better if it had illustrations & drawings, would have been quirky & fun and would have fit the tone of the book well. The author's evidently also an artist.

She installs new toilets, dishwasher and washer & dryer, finds funky devices for the shower to lower their use (such as the Every Drop Shower Saver to pause water while soaping), explores graywater use options and laws, solar thermal system, weatherproofing her older house, irrigation options for their veggie beds and landscaping (this is a tough one), rainwater collection options, and her "water footprint" via food and consumer choices. She's a scientist so it gets pretty left brained at times - there's a lot of data entering as she gets involved in the minutia of calculating use and potential savings - but I skimmed those and happily read on about her hippie friends and outdoor solar shower adventures in the yard. The only disappointing part was the landscaping aspect. I would have liked much more investigation and details about that. Gardening is not her forte, ah well.

[Jennifer Miera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in one day (granted, not every word), but got the gist. This summer, we moved into a much bigger house with a much bigger lawn (in my old house, I had converted most of the yard into vegetable, herb, and ornamental gardens). Our water bill was stunningly high during the hottest part of the summer (drought) and I'm also not sure how efficient the sprinkler system is. I feel like we're wasting a bunch of water, but I'm scared to start tearing out lawn and putting in my edibles and xeriscaping because the existing sprinkler system is so freakin' complicated (the former resident was an engineer). We also have a water hog of a clothes washer, having left our energy and water-efficient front-loader at our old house. The machine is brand new, so spending another $400+ to replace it seems silly, but I feel horrible wasting so many gallons.
I may look into getting the device that allows you to turn off your shower while shaving, soaping up, etc. That could save a bundle of water. I'm trying to be more water conscious in general. We're already vegan and try to grow our own and purchase local produce, so we're on the road, but with a ways to go.

[Tt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this lively memoir on taking charge of our water footprint. The focus on approaching this as a research project was interesting but not intimidating. The engineering rehabs the author made to her houses were inspiring though I think I will hold off on her shower modification:)

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read and I liked hearing about her engineer side setting up measurements, Jerry-rigging, etc. her writing definitely inspires me to revisit water usage in our house.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining quick non-fiction read on the water conservation journey of a homeowner in Sun Valley, Idaho. I expanded my eco-friendly vocabulary with words like "water footprint" and "grey water." I had a xeriscaped front yard in Utah. We saved a lot of water during the summer. I haven't thought much about doing some of the other conservation practices she mentions.