Green Plumbing

Water conserving plumbing products have gotten a bad rap in the past, since using less water often meant a huge reduction in the function of the products. For example, water saving toilets need to be flushed twice, or low-flow shower faucets suffered a loss of water pressure. Today, however, these problems are a thing of the past. Finding quality plumbing fixtures is easier than ever before, offering a cost savings in the form of water conservation.

How to Identify a Good Toilet
Toilets Use 26% of Water in the Household!
Today there are two different types of toilets on the market. The standard toilets offer an industry standard 1.6 gallons per flush option. While this is a great improvement over the old toilets, which used 3.5 gallons of water per flush, the new toilets on the market are made to use just 1.28 gallons per flush. Although they use less water, today's technology allows these toilets to flush efficiently the first time.

Another option for water conserving toilets is the dual-flush toilet. These products offer a 1.6 gallon flush (or less) along with a .9 gallon flush. This allows the user to use less than 1 gallon of water for most uses, and offers the higher water usage only when needed. Two buttons on the top of the water tank allow for homeowners to decide which flush they need.

Leaking toilets can waste water, regardless of their gallons per flush rating. Replacing worn parts within the water tank can be an inexpensive way to conserve water without replacing the entire toilet.

Conserve Water With a New Shower Head
Currently, the industry standard for a shower head is 2.5 gallons of water per minute. So, for a ten minute shower, 25 gallons of water is used. By installing a new 1.75 gallon per minute shower head, water consumption can be cut by 30%. That ten minute shower would only use 17.5 gallons! Clearly, this cost savings will add up over the course of a year. The best part is that new technologies allow reduced water use without sacrificing water pressure in the shower.

Again, simply replacing worn parts in an existing shower faucet or valve can reduce water consumption, without replacing the entire shower faucet.

Faucet Upgrades
Aside from leaky faucets, the single largest waste of water in a home is caused by leaving a faucet running when it is not in use. Running the water when brushing teeth or washing dishes can cost a homeowner thousands of gallons in wasted water and . money over the course of a year. Installing a hands-free automatic faucet allows the water to run only when needed, eliminating the possibility of this wasteful practice.

For existing faucets, reducing water consumption can be as simple as installing a new aerator. New aerators reduce the water flow, but keep the water pressure constant.

Conserving water not only saves a precious resource, but also saves money on the bottom line. For a relatively small investment, upgrading or replacing faucets offers a big payoff.