Saving Water and Energy in the Shower
by Don Ames
Yes, saving water is a cousin to saving power, first cousins.
All of us on community water systems have a water bill as part of our utility expenses. Save water and we save money. If we are not on community water than we probably have a well and a water pump. save water and we save the expense of running the pump.
The average houshold in the United States uses approximately 400 gallons per day or about 100 gallons per person per day. We know this is true because when the Colorado River reaches the ocean there is nothing left but a drop or two.
There are many changes that can be made quite simply by being aware of our water usage and adopting water saving habits that will help the Colorado reach its destination with dignity. You probably have heard most of them already. Things like take shorter showers and only run the dishwasher when its full. Here are three things that I recommend.
1. Throw away the huge shower nozzle that looks like an award winning sunflower head. I don’t care if your kids did give it to you for your birthday. Install a shower head the uses about 1.5 gallons of water and install a shut off valve right before the nozzle. The shut off valve allows you to turn the water off and turn it back on at the same temperature setting. So while your scrubbing your back with the brush on the long handle, you can shut the water off.
Take a plastic gallon milk jug and cut the top off. Start the shower water flowing and stick the jug under the flow to capture the water. Start timing when you first start filling the jug and stop timing when the jug is full. If it took 30 seconds to fill the jug, then the flow was 2 gallons per minute. A good shower nozzle flow for water conservation and still having enough water to get the soap out of your hair would fill the gallon jug in about 45 seconds.
2. Install a dual flush valve in your toilet tank. You don’t need to replace the whole toilet to get the dual flush economy feature. You can install the dual flush in the toilet tank that you already have. Want to flush a number one, use the .8 gallon flush. Want to flush a number two, use the 1.6 gallon flush.
3. It is often the kitchen sink faucet that runs water when not needed. There is an attachment that replaces the aerator that has a shut off valve. Not only can you choose between regular flow and spray flow, but you can shut the water off at the nozzle. When you turn the water back on, it is at the same temperature as before.
These water and energy saving tips require a trip to your favorite hardware store, but all three require very little investment. The payback time is short.
Hope you enjoyed these water and energy saving tips. Detect Energy has both a free and premium newsletter, you should check it out and have energy and money saving tips delivered right to your email. Plus, you get to ride along with Don Ames and check out real home energy audits and review methods that were used to save energy.
Come back soon…but, remember, I won’t leave the light on for you…Don Ames
