According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American uses between 80 to 100 gallons of water per day, while unknowingly wasting up to 30 gallons of water each day. Since usable water is a limited resource, 36 states could be facing water shortage problems by 2013, they say.
By making just a few small changes to your daily routine, you can save a significant amount of water, which will help you save money and preserve water supplies for future generations. Water-efficient plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems provide the same performance, but with the added benefit of water savings.
The EPA says the WaterSense label will help you identify high-efficiency products. They also recommend the following practices to help you save money on your water bill, while protecting the environment at the same time:
Fix those leaks
The EPA says leaky faucets that drip at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water each year. If you’re unsure whether you have a leak, read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you probably have a leak.
Another source of water wastage could be a leaky toilet, wasting about 200 gallons of water every day. To tell if your toilet has a leak, place a drop of food coloring in the tank. If the color shows in the bowl without flushing, you have a leak.
Take a shower instead of a bath
A full bath tub requires about 70 gallons of water, while taking a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons, according to the EPA. If you take a bath, they say, put a stopper in the drain immediately and adjust the temperature as you fill the tub.
Turn off your faucets
The EPA says turning off your faucets whenever possibly can save you tons of money on your water bill. The average bathroom faucet flows at a rate of two gallons per minute. Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth in the morning and at bedtime can save up to 8 gallons of water per day, which equals 240 gallons a month, EPA says.
Don’t forget your outdoor faucets. The EPA says the typical single-family suburban household uses at least 30 percent of their water outdoors for irrigation. Some experts estimate that more than 50 percent of landscape water use goes to waste due to evaporation or runoff caused by overwatering. The EPA recommends using drip irrigation systems, which use between 20 to 50 percent less water than conventional in-ground sprinkler systems. These systems are much more efficient than conventional sprinklers because no water is lost to wind, runoff, and evaporation, EPA says. If your in-ground system uses 100,000 gallons annually, EPA estimates you could potentially save more than 200,000 gallons over the lifetime of a drip irrigation system if installed-that’s a savings of at least $1,150.
Make It a Full Load
Since the average washing machine uses about 41 gallons of water per load, achieve greater savings by washing only full loads of laundry or use the appropriate load size selection on your washer. Better yet, check out a high-efficiency washing machine that uses less than 28 gallons of water per load, says the EPA.
Don’t Flush Your Money Down the Drain
If your toilet is from 1992 or earlier, you probably have an inefficient model that uses between 3.5 to 7 gallons per flush, the EPA warns. Update to a new and improved high-efficiency model that uses less than 1.3 gallons per flush, which is 60 percent less than their older models. The EPA says retrofitting your house with high-efficiency toilets can save a family of four roughly $1,000 over the next 10 years without compromising performance.
The EPA says the average household spends as much as $500 per year on its water and sewer bill. They say by making just a few simple changes to use water more efficiently, you could save about $170 per year.
