How to Cut Your Water Use by 25%

People will do anything to cut down their water bill. It sounds difficult, but there are many ways to cut water usage around your home and make a big difference on how much you spend a month for water. California recently administered a statewide mandatory conservation procedure to cut water usage by 25%. Many new houses being built have a water conservation mode that helps reach this goal, but for a typical residential home, some steps can be taken to help cut back. Here are some DIY ways to help homeowners save some money and cut back on water usage.

BATHROOM TIPS

Taking a shower is more efficient than a bath. Showers use about a third of the water a bath normally takes. Limit your time in the shower to 6 minutes or less and invest in a new low flow shower head model that can replace your old one. An example of such would be the Niagara water saving showerhead, saving around 1-to-4 GPM (Gallons Per Minute) over conventional showerheads.

Turn the water off while you are brushing your teeth. Replace old faucets with new efficient ones that can cut the GPM by half! Old faucets run around 3.5 GPM and new ones run around 1.5 GPM. But buying a new faucet can get expensive, so if you plan on keeping your old one, replace the aerator on it which restricts flow from 1.5GPM down to 0.5 GPM.

Old toilets made before 1993 waste up to 3.5 GPF (Gallons Per Flush) where any toilets made after use only 1.6 GPF, and the newest efficient toilets use only 1.28 GPF. A lot of money can be spent replacing old toilets, but you can replace the guts of your toilet tank with a new dual-flush converter that cuts water usage down to 0.8 GPF for #1 and 1.6 GPF for #2. Home department stores carry these converter kits and have easy to follow instructions. If these are out of your budget, you can place a brick in the inside of the tank, the brick will displace up to half a gallon of water and you have the same flush power and less water usage.

LAUNDRY

When saving water, the laundry room can use large amount of water for each load. For top loading washing machines, washing full loads instead of small loads can maximize efficiency. If the load is small, make sure to adjust the setting for the suitable load. New front load water efficient washing machines weigh the load and use the water needed.

LEAKS

The most notable source of water waste is leaks. Every home is susceptible to a water leak anywhere pipes are. Fixing leaks can have an immediate effect in water usage. Some leaks are easily noticeable, such as faucet drips, but others are hard to detect, like toilet leaks. A ripple in a toilet bowl when it’s not in use means there is a water leak. This problem can be fixed by replacing the toilet’s flapper valve.

Call Catons or schedule service online to have a plumbing expert break down the ways you can save on water in your home.