Obey the New Water Efficiency Laws!

Learn How to Design with Climate-Appropriate Plants! 

 
The new book, "Landscape Plants for California Gardens" by Cal Poly Pomona professor Bob Perry, gives thorough descriptions for 2,100 landscape plants, their ET budgets, run downs on irrigation system efficiency needed to satisfy those budgets, and then links them all back by plant palette and climate zone groupings - for every climate zone in the state.

Tickets are still available for Bob Perry's Lecture "California Gold: Plants & Water" at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, Thursday, March 3 6-9 pm. This lecture and sustainability fair is sponsored by The Urban Farmer Store to benefit the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society. Tickets: $20, $10 for students. Buy your tickets at any Urban Farmer Store or here.

Why Are Backflow Preventers Required? 

Protect the safety and purity of the public potable water supply. 

 

Safe drinking water can only be assured when the water flows from the public water distribution system to the end user's potable water system.  

Fresh water should only flow one way. It isn't supposed to turn around and travel back to the public water distribution system.

Backflow is the unwanted reverse flow of any substance from an end user's potable water system back into the public water distribution system. In order for backflow to occur, some form of cross-connection must be present. A cross-connection refers to "any unprotected ACTUAL or POTENTIAL connection between a potable water system and any other source through which a substance, other than potable water, may be introduced".

Cross connections can allow pollutants or contaminants to flow back into the public water supply, thereby polluting or contaminating the public water supply.

There are many cases where backflow conditions have occurred that have resulted in severe illness or death. This is why all national plumbing codes and regulations require the installation of approved backflow prevention assemblies and devices.  The Urban Farmer store stocks a complete line of backflow devices from Wilkins.

Tip:  if you are piping harvested rainwater where a cross-connection could occur, a high-hazard reduced pressure principal backflow is required. 

Copper Prices at 4-Year High, Plan Your Needs Accordingly 

Regency Wire and Cable Price Update

According to Regency Wire's recent update, copper recently hit a multi-year high reaching over 4.62/lb.

Analysts feel this upward trend will continue unless the pull down in inventories comes to a halt.

Copper market experts expected the red metal to reach $4.55/lb by the second quarter of 2011. On 2/14/11, copper reached another high at $4.62/lb slightly higher and earlier than the experts predicted. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc., the world's largest publicly traded producer, said last week that the constrained supplies that drove prices to a record will persist for the "foreseeable future."
Global demand is expected to exceed mine output again in 2011, more than double last year's shortfall.

If copper stays close to the current level another price increase on wire is forthcoming.   Please plan your inventory needs accordingly.