water – Kristen Baumlier

Tag: water

There It Is—Take It! A Car Audio Tour about the Los Angeles Aqueduct System and Owen Valley

Posted on September 27, 2013September 28, 2013 by Kbaumlier

California has one of the world’s largest, most productive, and most controversial water system. It manages over 40,000,000 acre feet of water per year. serves over 30 million people and irrigates over 5,680,000 acres (2,300,000 ha) of farmland.

To create this water system, there were many disagreements between the city of Los Angeles, farmers and ranchers in the Owens Valley of Eastern California, and environmentalists. By the 1920s, so much water was diverted from the Owens Valley that farming became difficult to do in this area. By 1926, Owens Lake at the bottom of Owens Valley was completely dry due to water diversion.

The story about how this water system came to be is chronicled in the movie Chinatown, and the book and documentary series Cadillac Desert. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the construction of the original aqueduct designed by William Mulholland, the Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) first superintendent and head engineer of the project. There It Is—Take It!, is a free, 90-minute long downloadable audio program that seeks to shed light on the mutual past, present, and possible future of Los Angeles and Owens Valley.

The project combines interviews, field recordings, music, and archival audio and presents the historic physical source of drinking water for the Los Angeles municipality while simultaneously revealing the relationship these two seemingly polar regions of California. The audio program is meant to be played while experiencing the Owens Valley landscape along U.S. Route 395.

Stories of the one hundred year old system are told from various perspectives and viewpoints by historians, biologists, activists, native speakers, environmentalists, litigators, LADWP employees, and residents from both Los Angeles and the Owens Valley.

The 90-minute long downloadable audio program, There It Is—Take It! Is available free online. Next time I am in los Angeles, I plan to check out the Owens Valley, and play the tour. The project was created by Kim Stringfellow, who is an artist and educator living in Joshua Tree, California.

Links and Image Sources:

Listen to the There It Is – Take It! program online

thereitistakeit.org/

Thirsty for Rainwater? Head to Casa del Agua in Mexico

Posted on February 1, 2013February 4, 2013 by Kbaumlier

When is the last time that you drank rainwater? If you happen to be in Mexico City you might just get a chance to do so. Clean water in Mexico can be hard to find, and 70% of drinking water is imported. A new artisan water boutique called Casa del Agua was created in order to provide clean local water, and so that anyone could stop in and get a drink of rainwater.

The water is harvested and filtered on-site, and as the Casa del Agua website says, “We stimulate water with our basic values, love, gratitude, and respect, therefore it reaches its highest potential. Simple and clear. Our water is craft bottled in a calm environment.”

The Casa del Agua space is clean and modern, and was designed by Hector Esrawe and Iganacio Cadena. A dramatic water/bottle setup is at the center of the space, and all the water is put into beautifully designed bottles. The water goes through the highest possible purification standard, going through a process of triple filtration, evaporation and condensation that makes it pure and clean. It is then rematerialized and ionized, increasing its alkaline and antioxidant properties.

Thirsty yet? I’m going to get a glass of water right now.

Image Source:
http://casadelagua.com.mx

Links:

http://casadelagua.com.mx

What would it be like with rain in your house? I Wish You Hadn’t Asked

Posted on March 27, 2012March 28, 2012 by Kbaumlier

What would be like if rain was to fall inside of your house instead of outside? I Wish You Hadn’t Asked, an artwork created in Denmark explores this idea and is a house where over 300,000 liters of water enter the structure as part of the piece.

The project is the work of the group The Glue Societyand was made for the Sculpture By the Sea Festival in Denmark. The fully furnished house was built, shipped in and outfitted with pipes that drop over 200 liters of water per minute into the rooms of the house.

The water is recycled – and is a semi-closed system, with pumps that get the water into the structure. As the artists say the piece explores the idea of “that moment in a relationship when something is said, or done, that can’t be taken back. And the rot sets in.”

A the beginning of the show, visitors could walk through (either wearing or not wearing a raincoat) but overtime it will not be safe to occupy.

The Glue Society is an independent creative collective based in Sydney and New York. It was founded in 1998 by Gary Freedman and Jonathan Kneebone and now includes five other writers, directors and artists: Matt Devine, Luke Crethar, James Dive, Pete Baker and Paul Bruty.

Image Source:
www.gluesociety.com

Links:

www.gluesociety.com

Saving Water? Cleaning my Pants in The Freezer

Posted on February 4, 2012February 8, 2012 by Kbaumlier

A while ago I wrote about Levis changing practices to save water. One way they are doing this is to put tags in new Levis jeans that suggest that the owner wash them less and only use cold water.

So – if you wash your jeans less how do you clean them? One way to get them clean is to put them in the freezer, a practice that will kill germs that cause them to smell.

I’ve been wearing my jeans for a few days. (off and on – I rotate them with others.) They do not look dirty – but do not smell as fresh as a new pair.

I looked around on other blogs – and others have talked about the ‘freeze clean’ method which is reputed to kill the bacteria. It doesn’t remove dirt or dust, (or cat hair) but will remove the “dirty” smell.

The recommended method is to put your jeans in a plastic Ziploc freezer bag and put them in the freezer. Some say for 24 hours and some say for a week.

I just put them in the freezer and will see what happens if I leave them in the freezer for 24 hours, then see if I need to try this for a week. I will report back after I give this a test.

** Monday February 6th – update

Two days later I took my jeans out of the freezer and gave them the sniff test.
I think they smell cleaner, but they still smell a little bit like pants that have been worn.

I plan to get the cat hair off them – and wear them today. I plan to try the test once I have dirty jeans again.

Clean Your Jeans in the Freezer? Levis is Making More Jeans with Less Water

Posted on January 12, 2012January 12, 2012 by Kbaumlier

A typical pair of blue jeans consumes 919 gallons of water during its life cycle, which is enough water to fill 5 spa-size bathtubs. This water includes the irrigation of the cotton, stitching the fabric, and washing them. This past year, a new line of Levis jeans have been developed with future water shortages in mind.

The Levis company is planning ahead, for future water shortages caused by climate change that could make cotton too expensive or scarce, and possibly bankrupt the company. Behind each pair of jeans is two pounds of cotton.

Some new changes include developing a new non-profit program to teach farmers in India, Pakistan, Brazil and West and Central Africa new irrigation and rainwater-capture techniques. Another new development is new stone-washed denim which is smoothed with rocks but does not use any water.

The reason for the company’s interest in conserving water began last year when floods in Pakistan and a drought in China ruined cotton crops and made prices higher. This increase of droughts and floods support the predicted patterns of global warming.

The cotton grown with the new farming methods is called by Levis Strauss as the “better cotton” initiative. About 5% of the cotton used in the two million pairs of jeans made this fall was grown with the sustainable method. The company wants that number to rise to 20% by 2015.

All Levis jeans have new tags in them that suggest that the owner wash them less and only use cold water. Wash your jeans less? Is there an alternative to wearing dirty and stinky pants? One way to get them clean is to put them in the freezer, a practice that will kill germs that cause them to smell.

I’ve been wearing my Levis jeans for 2-3 days now. Tonight, I am going to try the freezer method to clean them – and will report back how it works.

Image Source:
Levis Water<Less

Links:

Levis Water<Less

More Jeans – Less Water – from LS&Co. Unzipped