Bradley Puts Lid on Water Use at Home

In announcing his call for mandatory water rationing, Mayor Tom Bradley said “it’s easy” to cut usage by 10%.

And apparently, the mayor spoke from experience.

Since 1986, the Bradley household has cut its water use by 29.2%, according to Department of Water and Power records obtained by The Times.

A spokesman for the mayor said Bradley and his wife have installed low-flow shower heads, put bricks in toilet tanks and began using a “deep soak” landscape irrigation system to reduce their water use.

The mayor also saves a little water by having his car washed at the City Hall garage.

But otherwise, Bradley said he has taken no extraordinary steps to cut usage.

Getty House, the mayor’s city-owned residence, is a 12-room, four-bedroom, three-bath home in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. The mayor often entertains visiting dignitaries and maintains extensive gardens.

As a result, his total water usage is about three times that of the average Los Angeles household.

During 1989, the Bradley household used about 1,300 gallons of water a day, compared to 300 to 500 gallons a day in the average household.

But the mayor has vowed to cut his use further.

“I don’t care how much you have saved, you can always save more,” a spokesman quoted Bradley as saying.

Bradley urged city residents in March to voluntarily cut usage by 10%. “I told my gardener that morning I wanted him to cut watering at Getty House by one-third,” the mayor said, according to a spokesman.