Weather/Disaster Clemson, SC Water Restrictions

[rick77]

Len, this is not good news at all. Well, at least for now there are no water restrictions but as things get worse restrictions will certainly take place.

I'm in Greenwood, SC. The drought here is not as bad as it is up your way but it is starting to get worse here. I was doing a window cleaning job out on Greenwood Lake today and the customer was pointing out how low the lake is getting.

You can smell the stinch of all of the muscles dying on the banks. Mother Nature sure can be cruel at times. I surely hope that the effected areas will start getting the much needed rain.

I usually keep my hybrid Bermuda grass looking great but this year I have just let it go. The grass is not so important. But our jobs are. If we get water restrictions my water fed pole that I use for exterior window cleaning will be useless. And the power washing will definitely be out.

This is not good news with the unstable economy we are living in. It's not like all of us can just run out and get another job.

Hopefully things will take a turn for the better, both with the drought situation and the economy.

We need rain.

[We Wash Concrete]

The City of Pickens has now imposed mandatory water restrictions much like Clemson. Nothing says whether commercial business are exempt from the ban in Pickens though.

I still can't understand why car washes are exempt from these bans. The only thing I can think of is the politicians own them. I have yet to see a car wash that recycles their water...

It's been almost 3 weeks since I've pressure washed anything.

Can we organize like a rain dance or something? lol.

[squirtgun]

Don't know about a rain dance Micah,but we will certainly pray for you guys to get some rain.

[rick77]

Originally Posted by We Wash Concrete

The City of Pickens has now imposed mandatory water restrictions much like Clemson. Nothing says whether commercial business are exempt from the ban in Pickens though.

I still can't understand why car washes are exempt from these bans. The only thing I can think of is the politicians own them. I have yet to see a car wash that recycles their water...

It's been almost 3 weeks since I've pressure washed anything.

Can we organize like a rain dance or something? lol.

Micah, you organize the rain dance and I'll bring my band to supply the music.

I was at a friend's house on Lyman Lake between Greenville and Spartanburg. The water is really low threre. This drought is effecting a really large area of our state.

I got my dancin' shoes ready. Just let me know!

[PressureX]

And the crazy thing is the ocean is right there ... plenty of water in that. Just gotta convert to fresh water

[Palmetto Home and Deck]

Originally Posted by PressureX

And the crazy thing is the ocean is right there ... plenty of water in that. Just gotta convert to fresh water

There is already a system in place to deliver fresh water from the ocean to the upstate of SC. Its called a hurricane. There are plenty of people up here that are talking about how they would hate it for the coast, but saying that the only to get us out of this drought is for a hurricane to come up from the gulf and park over us for a while. It can and has happened before, but no one is predicting that any time in the near future.

As one city after another imposes mandatory water restrictions it is going to get tough to be in the pressure washing business in the upstate of South Carolina. I have a house to clean on Tuesday and I know it may be my last for a long time.

The drought situation is getting so bad here that the leaves on some trees are turning brown and falling off. The grass in most yards is long gone and yesterday I saw a bunch of weeds actually starting to wilt and die. But the most dramatic impression of our drought is how low the lake levels are. Lake Hartwell (where a lot of the drinking water comes from in the upstate of SC) has over 1,100 miles of shore line. You can't drive in the Clemson/Anderson area with out seeing boats and their boat docks sitting high and dry with the water being hundreds of yards away.

Still, in the shadows of all of this there are a few areas that get their water from deep wells or spring fed reservoirs and while they are encouraging conservation they say they are not planning on any mandatory restrictions at this time.

The problem is the people have developed a mind set that pressure washing even in these areas is taboo and should not be done. I may get a couple of calls a week now for pressure washing from some of the areas that have not imposed restrictions. What I am running into, however, is that as more areas impose restrictions pressure washing companies are flooding into the areas that have no restrictions.

As these areas get glutted with pressure washing companies looking for a place to survive they are cutting their prices trying to get the jobs. I looked at a house last Wednesday and when I gave the customers my cost they told me they had just gotten a quote half what mine was. That was the third job I lost in the past couple of weeks where I had given fair pricing...pricing that had gotten me jobs all year before the water restrictions.

Previously, I had not thought about the other consequences of a drought and how water restrictions would effect the pressure washing industry. As fewer areas are available to work in a lot of pressure washing companies are going to low ball themselves right out of business just as surely as the water use bans will for others.

[PWNC]

Guys, clearly we need to get together like we did in Raleigh earlier this year - it made a difference in how the public and media portrayed our industry. I realize that Jeff's RT is in September, but that is too far away from the affected area and probably too much time will be wasted. If you will send location and date suggestions we'll get something together as a group. You each know your press and the coverage area - it has to be where the most information will be released from.

You can email me, pm me or call me (336) 516-2242 with suggestions.

Celeste
PWNC