Water

Save Water, Save Energy, Save Money

By using water-saving features you can reduce your in-home water use by 35%.

Energy Spenders

The average household, which uses 130,000 gallons per year, could save 44,00 gallons of water per year. On a daily basis, the average household, using 350 gallons per day, could save 125 gallons of water per day. The average individual, currently using 70 gallons per day, could save 25 gallons of water per day.

Most people in North America use 50 to 70 gallons of water indoors each day and about the same amount outdoors, depending on the season.
Indoors, 3/4 of all water is used in the bathroom.
In the average home, the toilet accounts for 28% of water use.
Running a sprinkler for two hours uses up to 500 gallons.

Average Use of Water for Family of Four

Energy Saving Tips:

• Repair running toilet, and big leaks in pipes and faucet. You can ave $640 or 150,000 Gallons—Per Active Leak—Per Year.
• Repair dripping faucet and pipe leaks and you can save $130 or 30,000 Gallons—Per Active Leak—Per year.
• Take short showers or half baths and save $80 or 18,000 Gallons—Per Family of 3—Per year.
• Shut water off when washing dishes, brushing teeth, or shaving and save $28 or 6,000 Gallons—Per Family of 3—Per year.
• Place plastic "dams" in your toilet tanks. These flexible partitions are used to displace water in the tank and reduce the amount of water used with each flush. The plastic "dams" are inexpensive and should pay for themselves in a short time.  Other items that work instead of plastic dams include placing a brick in the toilet tank or a water bottle filled with liquid to reduce the amount of water used in each flush. This can save ten or more gallons of water per day
• Don't use the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket. Every time you flush a cigarette butt, facial tissue or other small bit of trash, five to seven gallons of water is wasted.
• Inexpensive water-saving low-flow shower heads or restrictors are easy for the homeowner to install. Also, long, hot showers can use five to ten gallons every unneeded minute. Limit your showers to the time it takes to soap up, wash down and rinse off. "Low-flow" means it uses less than 2.5 gallons per minute. You can easily install a ShowerStart showerhead, or add a ShowerStart converter to existing showerheads, which automatically pauses a running shower once it gets warm.

Outdoor Water Saving Tips:

• If you are planting a new lawn, or overseeding an existing lawn, use drought-resistant grasses. Many beautiful shrubs and plants thrive with far less watering than other species. Replace herbaceous perennial borders with native plants. Native plants will use less water and are more resistant to local plant diseases. Consider applying the principles of xeriscape for a low-maintenance, drought resistant yard.
• Plan slopes with plants that will retain water and help reduce runoff.
• Group plants according to their watering needs.
• Put a layer of mulch around trees and plants. Mulch will slow evaporation of moisture while discouraging weed growth. Adding 2 - 4 inches of organic material such as compost or bark mulch will increase the ability of the soil to retain moisture. Press the mulch down around the dripline of each plant to form a slight depression which will prevent or minimize water runoff.
• Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks. You can save about 50 gallons of water every 5 minutes a hose is not used

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