Do you find that your water bill is increasing all the time? Perhaps you know how important water is to the planet’s survival and want to start conserving more.
Regardless of your reasons, there are a lot of options available that can save a great deal of water in the home.
Here are just three devices you can use to significantly cut your water use, simply by installing and using them inside your house.
1) Low-Flush Toilets
Low-flow toilets look just like conventional ones and work just as well, too. The difference is that they can save you up to 20,000 gallons of water each year!
Low-flow toilets come in different designations that you can choose from, depending on your needs. You have the option of High-Efficiency Toilets (HET) or Ultra-High-Efficiency Toilets (UHET). These designations are based on how many gallons of water are used per flush, as well as how good the toilets are at getting waste down in one flush.
You have the choice of .8 gallons per flush, 1 gallon per flush, 1.28 gallons per flush or 1.6 gallons per flush. The .8-gallon or 1-gallon options are perfectly sufficient for most households.
Businesses, apartment complexes and/or college dorms may want to invest in toilets that use a little bit more water with each flush for increased power.
2) Low-Flow Shower Heads
Many people are unaware of the fact that showering makes up about 30 percent of residential water consumption. As such, purchasing water-saving shower heads is a quick and easy way to save big bucks on water bills.
However, the amount of water consumed isn’t the only factor when it comes to savings. With a low-flow shower head, using less water also means that less water needs to be heated. Heating water also costs money, so heating less water equals lowering utility bills even more.
You have a lot of choices with showerheads, too. You can get: 1.25 gallons per minute (GPM), 1.5 GPM, 1.75 GPM, 2 GPM, 2.25 GPM or variable .5/1/1.5 GPM devices. In terms of looks, you can choose from chrome, white or white and clear designs.
Of course, you still want the same luxury features from low-flow heads as conventional types. This is why you can purchase fixed or handheld mounted shower heads, as well as those with different massage settings.
3) Indoor Faucet Aerators
When you compare low-flow aerators to traditional kinds, the water savings can be a whopping 77 percent. Aerators disperse water into a shower of droplets rather than one steady stream.
You can get aerators in designations from .5 GPM to 1.5 GPM, and they come in different looks and stream types for bathroom or kitchen use.
Editor’s Note: This post has been updated for freshness and consistency.
Thank you for sharing! Another thing that we should all do to reduce wasted water is to eliminate plumbing leaks in the house. The average household’s leaks an account for nearly 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year, and ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day. It’s crazy!
It is important to check pipes and plumbing from time to time for leaks.