{"id":3502,"date":"2017-09-12T19:54:16","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T19:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/server.trenchlessmarketing.com\/~inhouseplumbingc\/?p=3502"},"modified":"2017-09-12T19:54:16","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T19:54:16","slug":"water-conservation-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/water-conservation-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Water Conservation Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

It should come as no surprise that we feel pretty passionate about water conservation here at In-House Plumbing.<\/p>\n

Of course, taking measures to save water saves you money by lowering your water bills. But when you also consider water is a finite resource\u2014meaning we can run out of it\u2014it only makes sense to conserve water in as many ways as we can.<\/p>\n

The earth is 70% water. But 97% of that is salt water\u2014undrinkable and mostly unusable. And 2% of the remaining 3% is locked in ice caps and glaciers leaving us with only 1% of water for all our needs: farming, livestock, manufacturing, community, and personal daily consumption.<\/p>\n

Fun water fact<\/b>:\u00a0The earth has the same amount of water now as it did when it was first formed<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The average American uses\u00a0up to\u00a0<\/i>100 gallons of water a day. Multiply that by the number of people living in your home and that\u2019s a lot of water.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t worry. We\u2019re not suggesting you stop showering and letting your lawn turn to dust.<\/p>\n

7 Water Saving Tips<\/h2>\n

Here are 7 simple tips to help you save water.<\/p>\n

Check Pipes and Faucets for Leaks<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fixing a leaky faucet is one of the easiest ways to conserve water.<\/p>\n

A single drip from a dripping faucet may seem inconsequential. But add those drips up and we are wasting gallons of water and dollars every day.<\/p>\n

Check out this\u00a0drip calculator<\/a>\u00a0on the United State Geological Survey site to determine how much water you are losing thanks to a leaky faucet.<\/p>\n

And if you have a leak in your fresh water pipes, it\u2019s like leaving the water on all day long making it incredibly important you get those leaks fixed as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

If you think you have a\u00a0fresh water leak<\/a>, Call us now or fill out our\u00a0contact form<\/a>\u00a0and we can help determine if that\u2019s the case.<\/p>\n

Is Your Toilet Running?<\/h3>\n

If so, you could be wasting\u00a0thousands<\/em>\u00a0of gallons of water a year.<\/p>\n

A few possible culprits in this situation is the flapper is warped or stuck and won\u2019t close, a bad flush valve, or the chain is too long, too short, or tangled.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Flush Trash<\/p>\n

Ever throw a tissue or some other small bit of trash in the toilet and flushed? Older toilets use up to 7 gallons per flush, and low flow toilets use about 1.6 gallons per flush (GPF).<\/p>\n

That\u2019s like using one and a half milk jugs to get rid of one small piece of trash. Throw your trash in the trash instead.<\/p>\n

Composting<\/h3>\n

Instead of running a garbage disposal, look into composting your food waste.<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t have a backyard, there are small composting bins you can keep on a balcony or patio. There are even countertop composting containers.<\/p>\n

Choose the Dishwasher<\/h3>\n

Dishwashers today are much more efficient than hand washing. It might seem counterintuitive but it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The average kitchen faucet uses about 2 to 3 gallons of water a minute. So if you leave the water running for 10 minutes to hand wash your dishes, you\u2019ve used about 8 to 10 gallons of water. A dishwasher uses 6 gallons of water per load and Energy-star rated dishwashers use 4 per load.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d have to be pretty fast at hand washing to beat that, and that includes the time it takes for your water to heat up.<\/p>\n

Of course, we\u2019re talking about a full load and\u00a0no pre-rinsing<\/a>\u00a0which can actually decrease the effectiveness of your dishwasher. If you don\u2019t have enough for a full load, you can always use the rinse and hold cycle. This still uses less water than pre-rinsing or hand washing.<\/p>\n

However, if you insist on hand washing, consider filling one side of the sink with hot soapy water and turning off the faucet while you wash the dishes instead of leaving it running.<\/p>\n

Bonus tip<\/strong>: Use a bucket to collect the cold water that runs while you wait for it to heat up. Then use this to water your plants.<\/p>\n

Bonus tip #2<\/strong>: You can do this with shower water, too.<\/p>\n

Turn Off Faucet When Brushing Your Teeth<\/h3>\n

Do you keep the water running when you brush your teeth? With the faucet using 2 to 3 gallons a minute, you\u2019re letting good water (and money) run down the drain if you aren\u2019t turning off the tap when you brush.<\/p>\n

Wet your toothbrush and then don\u2019t run the water again until you need it. It might seem strange at first but after some practice, it\u2019ll be second nature.<\/p>\n

This is a good practice to build when you wash your hands, too.<\/p>\n

Drip Irrigation<\/h3>\n

We love our lawns. But keeping the grass green and the flowers blooming costs a lot of water. Some estimates claim automatic water sprinklers waste 40% to 50% of the water used.<\/p>\n

A water-saving alternative to a sprinkler system is drip irrigation, the delivery of slow-moving water from drip lines\/pipes directly in the soil. You don\u2019t lose water to overflow runoff or evaporation with this method.<\/p>\n

An added plus,\u00a0drip irrigation is exempt from Dallas water restrictions.<\/p>\n

Turn Off the Hose<\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t use a water hose to clean off driveways and sidewalks. Use a broom or a leaf blower instead.<\/p>\n

And if you wash your car in the driveway, turn off the hose when you\u2019re not using it. Fill a bucket with soap and water, wet your car quickly, and then leave the hose off until it\u2019s time to rinse.<\/p>\n

Why Water Conservation Matters<\/h2>\n

With safe, clean water at our fingertips, it might not seem like we need to worry about saving water.<\/p>\n

But with a fast-growing population and no change in water consumption rates, it is important to take steps to conserve water now before it\u2019s too late\u2014especially when you consider we can\u2019t live without it.<\/p>\n

2014 Government Accountability Report<\/a>\u00a0found \u201c40 of 50 state water managers expected shortages in some portion of their states under average conditions in the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let us know what you think in the comments below! And as always, feel free to give us a call.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It should come as no surprise that we feel pretty passionate about water conservation here at In-House Plumbing. Of course, taking measures to save water saves you money by lowering your water bills. But when you also consider water is a finite resource\u2014meaning we can run out of it\u2014it only makes sense to conserve water […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","entry","override"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bigwesttemp.com\/inhouseplumbing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}