Being a water conservationist doesn’t require you to be a radical environmentalist. There are small, simple, and quick ways you can conserve water in whatever building you are in whether it is your home or office. It not only saves water, our most precious resource, but it also saves you money—two incentives to put these tools into action.
Install low flow showerheads and aerators
While a standard showerhead uses approximately 2.5 gallons of water per minute, low flow showerheads use 1.5 gallons per minute. This means that a 10-minute shower can use 25 gallons of water with a standard showerhead, but only about 15 gallons of water with a low flow showerhead. This easily saves 10 gallons of water per person.
Standard bathroom faucet aerators can also waste water—using approximately 2.2 gallons per minute. Assuming a household of four has the faucet on for a total of 30 minutes each day, approximately 66 gallons of water is flowing through these faucets each day. This is 1,980 gallons each month. By installing a water saving aerators, you can save almost 50 percent of water waste. Likewise, standard kitchen aerators can waste a lot of water, especially when then are continuously on while rinsing dishes. Consider switching to flow control kitchen aerators for significant water savings.
High-efficiency toilets
Other big water wasters are the toilets in your home. Standard toilets use between 3-8 gallons of water with every flush. One way to cut down the water usage per flush is by installing EPA certified WaterSense toilets. These high-efficiency toilets use a maximum of 1.28 gallons per flush. Dual flush options can cut water usage down to as low as .8 gallons per flush—that’s less than a gallon of water per flush! Again, if you have an older home, these toilets can use 4-6 gallons per flush.
Water efficient toilets can cost a little more upfront, but the money it saves you in the long run more than pays for the difference in price. If you can’t afford or don’t want to pay for a new energy efficient toilet, there are ways you can alter your existing toilet to conserve water. You can attach a Toilet Fill Cycle Diverter to reduce the amount of water released in each flush by 0.5 gallons. You can also use a toilet tank displacement bank, which reduces the amount of water that sits in the tank by about 0.8 gallons.
Sustainable irrigation systems
You can also conserve the water you use for landscaping projects or watering your lawn. When designing and building walkways, patios and driveways, use porous materials like porous stone or un-compacted gravel to allow rainwater to be soaked up by the ground. Instead of using water hoses and sprinkler systems, use a rainwater collection system for watering the lawn.
Water is one of the most precious resources we have, and fresh water is being wasted every day. There are small things you can do, tools you can use, to conserve the water usage in your home—and save money on your water and energy bills while doing it.