3 Water Conservation Tips for Fall

Home plumbing fixtures have a big impact on the efficiency of your home water usage. Taking steps to conserve more water at home will reduce your monthly water bill and contribute to large scale municipal water savings throughout the year. It’s not obvious how much water is wasted every single day and many appliances we use daily in the bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room are the main culprits of this waste.

Reducing demand on the water supply–especially in dry, desert regions–also helps save energy. Water treatment and delivery both consume a lot of energy, and by reducing water use, you can reduce energy use as well. There are a few effective ways to begin a water conservation plan at home. By installing more efficient plumbing fixtures, you may also be eligible for rebates or incentives from utility providers or the city for making a change to efficient fixtures.

Shower Heads

A lot of water is wasted through shower heads. Taking showers accounts for a significant portion of home water use–about 20-30%. Transitioning to a low flow shower head can reduce home water use up to 75%. These shower heads can still provide strong streams of water, but only release about 2 gallons of water per minute. This type of efficient fixture will help save energy across the system and lower your monthly bills.
You may also reduce the demand on your pipes and water heater by requiring less water for showering.

Toilets

The modern toilet consume the most water out of any plumbing fixture in the home. There are a couple of options for transitioning to toilet that conserves more water. Low flow toilets use less than 1.3 gallons of water per flush. Since this is the standard set by the EPA, these toilets are considered low flow. Dual flush toilets are another option as they allow for two levels of flushing depending on the type of waste. If even this seems like too much water to waste, compost toilets are the next level of ‘efficiency’ as they use no water. These require a special dedication to maintain, but you will save huge amounts of water.

Faucets

Water efficiency faucets can reduce water consumption by limiting the output of water to around 1.5 gallons per minute. Low flow restrictors can also be installed on the faucet to further help control water flow. For faucets, like many plumbing fixtures, individual use is going to be the most important factor in saving water beyond simply controlling the water flow through a regulated fixture. Keeping water use personally regulated and monitoring and fixing leaks is always the easiest way to control home water usage. Simply transitioning to low flow plumbing fixtures alone won’t significantly address water consumption–you still need to closely monitor use and check for deficiencies.

Looking for new plumbing fixtures or need new plumbing installed give us a call (801) 505-9505! Contact Shamrock Plumbing for more questions on how to save money with the plumbing in your home.