Everyday Environmentalism- Saving Water In The Bathroom
If you want to save water in your house, you may want to address your bathroom first. Although water is often wasted here, the bathroom provides some of the best opportunities for water conservation.
Water conservation not only helps the environment, but helps us save on bills. Additionally, drips and leaks can lead to mildew and mold, which can become health hazards.
The tub, sink and toilet are some quick places to check. Reasonably-priced equipment is available to help water waste become a thing of the past.
Here are some other ideas for saving water in your bathroom:
• Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, and rinse out the sink when you’re finished.
• Capture shower/bath water while waiting for water to change temperatures: This excess water can be used for watering plants.
• Do not use the toilet as a garbage can: Only flush the toilet when disposing of sanitary waste.
• Turn off the water while shaving: Fill the bottom of the sink with a few inches of water to rinse your razor.
• Keep your eye out for dripping faucets. You can fix a dripping faucet by replacing washers. If your faucet drips at a rate of 1 drop per second, expect to waste 2500 gallons per year.
• Check for leaky toilets. You can test your toilet for a leak by adding food coloring to the tank. If the toilet leaks, color will appear in the toilet bowl within 15 minutes.
• Take a look at your water meter while no water is being used in your house. If it goes up, you obviously have a problem! This can also help you locate underground service leaks.
• Keep water pitchers around to collect water that runs while you wait for the water to heat up. You can use this as drinking water or to water your plants!
• You can reduce the amount of water an older toilet uses by placing a half gallon plastic jug in the tank.
• Keep drinking water in the refrigerator instead of letting the tap run while you wait for cool water.
• If taking a bath, begin filling the tub with the drain already plugged, don’t wait for the water to warm up before plugging the drain. Instead, adjust the water temp while the tub fills. Take a short shower instead of a bath. While a five minute shower uses a 12 to 25 gallons, a full tub requires about 70 gallons.
• Little leaks add up in a hurry! A faucet drip or invisible toilet leak that totals only two tablespoons a minute comes to 15 gallons a day. That’s 105 gallons a week or 5,460 wasted gallons of water a year.
• Most toilets installed before 1980 use 5-7 gallons of water per flush. Toilets installed between 1980 and 1993 use 3.5 gallons per flush. Toilets installed since 1994 use 1.6 gallons. If you are considering replacing your toilet, the Town of Cary will provide a rebate to residential and business water customers who replace older toilets that use 3.5 gallons or more per flush with a WaterSense-certified high efficiency toilet (HET) that use 1.28 gallons per flushThe average person uses 100 gallons of water per day for everything from drinking to bathing to garden maintenance.
• Limit the length of your shower to 5 minutes or less. Reducing showering time by 1 minute can save 1,000 gallons of water a year.
• Check your showerhead. If your showerhead uses 3 or more gallons of water per minute, it is a prime candidate for replacement. A showerhead designed with conservation in mind will flow at a rate of 2.5 or less gallons per minute. These showerheads may be stingy with water, but they can still feel luxurious. In fact, the most advanced showerheads on the market—the ones that offer pulsating massages and precisely controlled temperatures—usually are low-flow nozzles.
The average household water bill is over $300 per year. So lets save some money while protecting our environment at the same time!
