Summer is almost here! And, every summer the amount of water people use goes up drastically. But it doesn’t have to.
Here at Public Service Plumbers, we take water conservation seriously. That’s why we’ve put together this how-to list of easy things you can do to help conserve water this summer. Remember, we all have to use water. Let’s talk about some ways that you can reduce your water usage this summer with the following plumbing hints and tips.
Install Low-Flow Toilets
Toilets are the biggest water wasters in almost any home or business. Traditional toilets use as much as 30% of the total amount of water used in a household, per year! Therefore, one of the easiest ways that you can reduce the amount of water you use every year is to install low-flow toilets in your bathrooms.
Low-flow toilets use a fraction of the water that traditional flush toilets use. Assuming you flush your toilet an average of 3 times a day, a traditional toilet will use 5500 gallons of water every year. By swapping out your toilets for low-flow varieties (toilets with a gallons-per-flush rating of 1.6 or lower), you can save a whopping 3750 gallons of water every single year! That is a significant amount of water saved just by swapping out one type of plumbing appliance.
Use Low-Flow Shower Heads
Just like with low-flow toilets, installing low-flow showerheads in your home can save a lot of water every year. On average, people use about 17 gallons of water per shower (assuming they have a showerhead with a flow rate of 2.0 gallons per minute). Swapping out your showerheads for low-flow varieties (1.5 gallons per minute rated showerheads) can save you about 4 gallons of water per shower.
Find and Stop Leaky Toilets and Other Plumbing Fixtures
Another major cause of water waste in the United States is leaking toilets and plumbing fixtures. A leaking toilet can waste an average of 200 gallons of water every single day! And, leaking faucets can cause another 5 gallons of water every day. Having our plumbers fix your leaky toilets and faucets can save you 205 gallons of water a day (or 75,000 gallons of water every year)!
Turn Off the Water When You Aren’t Using It
Yet another thing you can do to reduce your water usage is to turn off the water when you’re not using it. A prime example of this is running the faucet while you brush your teeth. Just turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth can save your household almost 600 gallons of water every year (assuming you have a household with 4 members who brush their teeth for 1 minute twice a day with a faucet that produces 2.5 gallons per minute).
Reduce Shower Time by as Little as 2 Minutes
Reducing your shower time by as little as 2 minutes is the easiest thing you can do to reduce the amount of water you waste. In fact, reducing your shower by two minutes can save you a total of 10 gallons per shower.
Contact Public Service Plumbers for Help Installing Water-Conserving Plumbing Appliances
If you’d like help reducing the amount of water you waste, then contact us here at Public Service Plumbers. Our team of plumbing professionals is made up of water conservation experts! Contact us and we’ll come out and help you reduce your water waste footprint this summer!
