Making Your Plumbing System More Efficient
Jerry Brown, the Governor of California, recently was forced to institute mandatory restrictions on the use of water. The most populous state has been going through a severe drought and every drop of water needs to be used wisely. California is hardly alone in its concern over the diminishing amount of available water.
If something is not done in Las Vegas, the gambling mecca in the desert may become a ghost town. All across the country, people should be concerned about conserving water.
Following are three simple ways that homeowners can reduce their usage of this precious resource.
Low-Flow Toilets
If you are still flushing a pre-1994 toilet, shame on you! Old toilets used up to 7 gallons of water per flush and rarely had to be flushed twice. In 1994, a new law mandated that all newly manufactured toilets be low-flow toilets that used only 1.6 gallons per flush.
The manufacturers complied but the low-flow toilets performed poorly. For a time, the secondary market for toilets flourished. People bought them for premium prices at garage sales, flea markets, and even online.
Technology advanced quickly and the toilets became more functional. Manufacturers modified the design by wider flapper holes, longer glazed trap-ways, and larger flush valves.
Further advancements in design followed. Today you can buy pressure-assisted toilets that use air pressure to make the low-flow toilet flush better. You can step up to a model that uses a small pump to facilitate the flow. For maximum water savings, you can install a dual flush toilet that uses 0.8 gallons to flush liquid waste and 1.6 gallons to flush solid waste.
Low-Flow Shower heads
Just like toilets, there are restrictions on the flow for shower heads. The flow restrictors, installed in shower heads only a few years ago, usually created a weak, unsatisfying stream of water.
To solve the weak flow problem, people would simply remove the little plastic flow restrictor and defeat its intended purpose. Today you can buy low-flow shower heads that provide a powerful stream that is often stronger than shower heads without flow restrictors.
Save water and save money every day!
Running Toilets and Annoying Drips
Even small drips can waste hundreds of gallons of water each year. A toilet that keeps running or a faucet that has an annoying drip, needs to be repaired. Make sure you check all water sources including the shutoff valves for your garden hoses.
Leave a Comment