For Substantial Water Savings, Begin in the Bathroom
By Emily Landes, Livable
With most residents now in their homes for the bulk of the day, utility bills of all types are on the rise. But the increased emphasis on personal hygiene may mean that water bills in particular are likely to be impacted by the shelter in place order. On top of that, years of drought conditions plus deferred maintenance on an aging infrastructure add up to water rates that continue rising for the foreseeable future. Just because rates and usage are up that doesn’t mean owners need to sit back and accept ever-higher water bills. There are a number of easy, economical bathroom fixes that will cut down on water usage. You may not be able to access your units to make any of these updates right now, but with many motivated retailers offering big discounts it’s a good time to buy water-efficient fixtures to install after restrictions are lifted.
Tackling Toilets Leaky and inefficient toilets, showers and sinks are the biggest contributors to wasteful water use. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program, toilets alone account for nearly 30 percent of the average home’s indoor water consumption.
water bills in particular are likely to be impacted by the shelter in place order If you have older toilets, they may be wasting water with every flush. Toilets installed before 1977 use 5 gallons per flush, and those installed between 1977 and 1994 use 3.5 gallons per flush. Most toilets installed after 1994 use 1.6 gallons per flush, which is a huge improvement on the older models but still 20 percent more water
than a new WaterSense-labeled toilet. These toilets, approved by the EPA and independently certified to meet a high bar in both performance and efficiency, use only 1.28 gallons per flush. Depending on the age of your existing toilets, replacing them with WaterSense models could reduce water use by up to 60 percent per flush. The EPA estimates that a toilet upgrade can save the average family 13,000 gallons of water per year. Obviously, those savings will be even larger in a multiunit building when toilets are replaced building wide. Plus, the SoCal Water$mart program offers a $40 rebate for each high-efficiency toilet installed in buildings with five or more units. May 2020 socalrha.org | 21
