Dear PoP – Wasted Water?

Paris sidewalk, originally uploaded by wineaux.

“Dear PoP,

I leave for work at a pretty ungodly hour every day, so I’m not sure if many people see the things that I do. I see property management companies hosing down sidewalks the size of entire city blocks everyday. Considering the threat of low fresh water supplies nationally and globally, I was wondering what people think about legislation to prevent wasting water like this? Two specific examples are the Highland Park Apartments and the Small Business Administration in SW.”

A reader asked a similar question last April though somehow the discussion got diverted to the issue of spitting.

As you can see in the photo above, from Paris, folks clean sidewalks with water all over the world. Why is it such a common practice? If they use recycled water then is it ok? Does anyone know if recycled water is used for this purpose in DC?  Would you support legislation to block the practice in DC?