Reducing home water use not only lowers your monthly water bill but also helps conserve your community’s vital water supply. With so much of the nation facing record heat and chronic drought, water conservation has become a way of life. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that switching to high-efficiency plumbing fixtures would conserve approximately 3 trillion gallons of water per year. That is a savings of about 18 billion dollars in expenses.
Many people also do not realize that water-savings are also a valuable way to save energy. Household water must be treated, delivered and heated using valuable energy. The EPA reports that if only 100 households equipped their home’s plumbing with water-saving fixtures, there would be a savings of 100 million KWh per year.
Here are just a few high-efficiency water-saving plumbing fixtures that help conserve water and energy.
Toilets: Toilets are one of the largest water-hogs in a home. One toilet typically accounts for about 30 percent of a home’s water usage. Virtually all toilets installed prior to 1994 use 1.6 gallons of water per flush (GPF). A high-efficiency toilet, also known as an ultra low flush toilet, uses less than 1.28 GPF per flush. Dual flush toilets offer the option of two flush choices: one flush for liquid waste and a higher water use flush for solid waste.
Showerheads: Showers account for 20 percent of home’s water usage. Having a ultra-low-flow showerhead installed will cut the shower’s water use by 70 percent.
Faucets: Faucets in a home can use more than 2.5 GPM of water. Installing water-saving faucets that use less than 1.5 GPM, which is the current EPA’s WaterSense standard, will help dramatically reduce water usage. If changing the faucets in your home seems like too much of a costly endeavor, you can also opt to have water-saving aerators or flow restrictors installed by a professional to your existing faucets.
To learn more about updating your Glendale home with high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, please contact the plumbing professionals at Kew Forest Plumbing.
