Don't flush money down the toilet.
Conserving water saves money by cutting down on overall water and energy usage and costs, from those of obtaining clean water in the home (and heating it) to those of eliminating rinse and waste water. It provides a host of environmental benefits as well, including reducing acid rain and slowing global warming. Households can take many simple measures to conserve water, among them insulating pipes to reduce water heating time, taking shorter showers and turning off the water while brushing teeth and shaving. Does this Spark an idea?
Find and Seal Leaks
A household's first line of defense again water waste includes checking all plumbing fixtures, faucets and pipes for leaks and sealing up securely any that are found. Worn washers in faucets are one of the most insidious offenders while also being one of the cheapest to correct. Checking your water meter once each at the beginning and end of a two-hour period of no water usage will help you identify hidden water leaks.
Low-Flow Toilets
Several plumbing fixtures now exist that are more water efficient than their predecessors. Gravity flush toilets reduce water usage by enlisting the natural force of gravity to compensate. Still other water-efficient toilets incorporate separate flush volumes for solid and liquid wastes. Today's ultra-low flush models use just over 1.5 gallons of water per flush compared with 3 to 5 gallons for standard toilets, producing a 40 percent decrease in water usage through flushing, while air-assisted toilets using compressed air from a 1/4 hp air compressor (able to power more than one such toilet) only use 1/2 gallon per flush. In lieu of purchasing new toilets, placing a plastic bottle in each water tank can achieve similar results. Also, make sure no one in your home uses a toilet for anything other than bodily waste.
Low-Volume Faucets and Shower Heads
Low-volume shower heads deliver approximately 2 gallons per minute (gpm) compared with 3 to 8 gpm with traditional shower heads. Low-volume faucets deliver 1.5 to 2.5 gpm compared with 3 to 7gpm with standard faucets. Based on these figures, it is estimated that low-volume shower heads can conserve about 3 gallons of water per person per day and nearly 1,000 gallons per person per year, while low-volume water faucets in bathtubs and sinks can conserve approximately double that. Each of these individually can likewise save a household approximately 125 kilowatt hours of energy per person per year. In lieu of purchasing all new faucets and shower heads, installing low flow aerators is a less costly way to achieve some measure of these results.
Water-Efficient Appliances
Front-loading washing machines conserve tremendous amounts of water, due in part to the machine's tumbling action reducing water and detergent requirements over standard top-loaders for equivalent sized loads. As for automatic dishwashers, they may consume large quantities of water, but even the less efficient (and often more affordable) varieties still use less hot water than washing dishes manually. Increase water efficiency of automatic dishwashers further by loading them fully before running them.
Outdoor Water-Efficient Improvements
Much of a household's water consumption is water used for outdoor purposes like gardening and landscaping that is largely lost due to evaporation. Outdoor watering in the early morning or just after sunset minimizes much of this water loss from evaporation. Steering clear of over-watering (no more than 10 to 15 minutes for most soils) can conserve even more water. Massive water savings of 25 to 75 percent can be achieved using drip irrigation systems of conventional sprinkler systems. Harvesting rain water from gutters in rain barrels for outdoor watering is another great way to save.
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