How to Save Water, Money, and Empower Yourself

Did you know that saving water is good for your pocketbook, conserves a dwindling, precious natural resource, and empowers you? To assure we have enough water to meet daily needs now and in the future, we need to do our share. I'll describe which efforts worked for me. Please try them as well as think of additional ways you can save water too.

First, ask yourself whether you’re for water and take the “WaterSense Pledge.” It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Check toilets for silent leaks (the link below explains how).

2. Twist and tighten pipe connections.

3. Replace the fixture if necessary. 

See more at WaterSense Pledge

Then, look for the WaterSense Label, which is affixed to products that have been independently tested and certified to meet EPA WaterSense criteria for efficiency and performance. Following are many easy ways to save water, so read to the end. After you're through, please take a moment to comment. I'd love to hear whether you're concerned about a water shortage throughout the world and what are your tips for conserving water too. Here's the sign that will appear in stores that sell WaterSense Products.

TOILETS

We recently updated an older model toilet to a new gravity-flush water efficient model. Our old toilet was stained from the hard water we have here in Arizona, and the toilet had started to leak. My husband and I were mindful to purchase a new one that limits water consumption to 1.28 gallons or less per flush and is designed to resist staining. It does the job, reduces water consumption, and saves money too, because low-flow toilets reduce water usage by 40% to 50% a year.

We found out that if a toilet was made before 1991, and you replace it with one that carries the WaterSense label, you may be eligible for a tax rebate from your local water supply company or municipality. The store where you purchase your new toilet will supply rebate information and discuss details about rebate programs in your area. 

By replacing old, inefficient toilets with the WaterSense labeled models, the average family can save at least $110 per year in water costs, and $2,200 over the lifetime of the toilets. Nationally, if all old, inefficient toilets in the United States were replaced with WaterSense labeled models, we could save 520 billion gallons of water per year, or the amount of water that flows over Niagara Falls in about 12 days. 

For more information contact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Helpline at- 1-866-987-7367 or write the Office of Wastewater Management (4204M), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20460.

See what makes it easier to pick out a new toilet from Consumer Reports at Consumer Reports Help for Selecting Low-Flow Toilet

WASHING MACHINES

Wash only full loads of laundry to get the most out of water use. Your washing machine water level should assure that clothes are immersed in water and move easily, but goes no higher. When it’s time to replace this appliance, choose one that has a top Energy Star rating. In the long run, you'll save dollars and water. Energy Star certified clothes washers use about 20% less energy and 35% less water than regular washers. They also have a greater tub capacity which means you can wash fewer loads to clean the same amount of laundry.

SHOWER

Convert to a water efficient shower head and cut your showers by two minutes. Even a one or two minute reduction can save up to 700 gallons per month.

DRINKING WATER

Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. This beats running tap water to cool it for drinking. This measure saves 200 to 300 gallons a month. 

SINKS

Be sure to fix all leaking faucets. The water that comes out of faucets in your home or apartment accounts for more than 15 % of your total indoor water use or 1 trillion gallons of water across America each year. The aerator tip of the faucet determines the maximum flow rate of the faucet. If you have an older kitchen faucet, consider getting an inexpensive new, water-effective one.

When preparing fruits and veggies, refrain from using running water to clean them. Instead, fill the sink or a large bowl with water and immerse produce to clean. Afterward, water can go to water plants in your garden and cuttings can be dumped on your compost pile. This can save 150 to 250 gallons of water per month.

"When you're brushing your teeth, turn off water, while you are actually brushing. Use short bursts of water for cleaning your brush. This saves about 80% of the water normally used.” For additional tips about conserving water go to the Water Project Website Water Project 17 Tips for Conserving Water

LANDSCAPE

For home landscaping water needs, remember automatic landscape irrigation systems are a home's biggest water user. To make sure you're not over-watering, adjust your irrigation controller at least once a month to account for changes in the weather and install a rain shutoff device, soil moisture sensor, or humidity sensor to better control irrigation. Create a visually attractive landscape by selecting low-water, drought-resistant plants. Conform to water conservation methods like watering early in the day and plan for water harvesting of rainwater and gray water use.

Here’s a thought provoking article from Robert Brears who eloquently states, “We live in an interconnected world where water and food scarcity will impact us all no matter where we live in the world.” See it at

Interconnected World by Robert Brears

When you take simple steps to reduce, reuse, and conserve water you are being proactive and this is empowering. Help yourself, your family, your country, and the world by doing your part in saving this finite resource. "Water is key to all life and survival." Nancy Andres

The quotation for today follows:

Water is the driver of Nature -Leonardo da Vinci 

Source

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at the Healthy-Happy-Green-Natural Party Blog Hop #40 and here'the link

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Water Conservation, Protect our Water Supply

An article written by Tim Vanderpool in the May 3-9, 2012 Tucson Weekly caught my eye. Vanderpool sites a January 2012 report, “Moving Forward from Vulnerability to Adaptation: Climate Change, Drought, and Water Demand in the Urbanizing Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico (A cooperative effort of US-Mexican researchers Margaret Wilder, Christopher A. Scott, Nicholas Pineda-Pablos, Robert G. Varady, et al). This study points out that drought conditions in the Southwest areas mentioned above puts its inhabitants in a vulnerable, if not perilous place. See article “Water Ways.” www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/water-ways/Content?oid=3336059.

Water Ways Tucson Weekly

I’ve read the full report. I believe it shows that the lack of clean water and the myriad complexities that creates, rather than shortages of fossil fuel, is the biggest challenge we in the Southwest face today. Read the report and see whether you agree with me.

“A Government Accountability Office survey of water managers across the country showed that at least 36 states were anticipating local, regional, or statewide water shortages by 2013, even under non-drought conditions.”

http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/questions.html
 link to EPA Info . For Further Information from the EPA:
Helpline: (866) WTR-SENS (987-7367) |
WaterSense, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Wastewater Management (4204M), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20460

Here are some points to ponder

What are we, as citizens, actively doing to keep clean (potable) water clean and available? Are we prepared for skyrocketing water rates in the near future? And, do we think it’s wise policy to allow those controlling the southwestern states allotment of water from the Colorado River free rein to sell this precious commodity to other states? Are we frozen in dismay or apathy, because we tell ourselves that we can effect no change as just one person or one household? Do we minimize this problem, quiver in fear, or suffer from ignorance, greed, or denial?

EPA statistics indicate, “Private homes use more than half of the publicly supplied water in the US.” Half the pie is a big chunk, so we actually can make a big difference. Look at the choices you make in your water usage, and conserve, reuse, and recycle whenever you can. Act responsibly by participating in planning for the future and express your views by contacting public officials and voting for candidates that support water conservation.