7 Ways To Save Water At Home
As any good fremen knows, saving water is of vital importance to the tribe. Just because we don’t live on a planet that is made entirely of desert doesn’t mean we shouldn’t watch how much water we use.
In some drought-stricken areas of the country, homeowners are dealing with acute water shortages. But no matter where you live, you can take simple steps to conserve water and save money. In fact, with just a few small changes in your home, you can cut your water bill by half. Here’s how:
1. Low-flow faucets and showerheads
Low-flow faucets have a flow rate of 1.5 to 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm), compared to 2.5 to 5 gpm for standard faucets. For showerheads, select models that use 2.5 gpm or less. Some showerheads manufactured before 1992 had flow rates of up to 5.5 gpm, so if you have one of these older models in your home, consider switching to a newer version. You could save 20 to 25 gallons of water per shower.
2. Low-flush toilets
More and more manufacturers are offering low flow toilets – some equipped with dual flushing mechanisms and others with pressure assisted systems. Kohler’s Power Lite toilets, for instance, allow users to select either a normal 1.4-gallon flush or a super-low 1.0-gallon flush, so you never use more water than you need. Kohler notes that the toilet can save 2,000 gallons of water a year. Sloan’s FLUSHMATE pressure assisted technology can be found inside toilets from all leading manufacturers. The newest FLUSHMATE IV uses less than 1.0 gallon per flush without sacrificing performance and saves up to 45% more water than conventional technologies, according to the manufacturer.
3. Hot water recirculator
For a hot shower, you first have to displace the water that’s gone cold in the pipe — between 1 and 5 gallons — which heads right down the drain. To prevent cold-water dumping, you can install a recirculating pump, which will rapidly pull hot water from the water heater while simultaneously sending cooled-off water from the hot-water lines back to the water heater. In addition to having the convenience of hot water on-demand, the system conserves water and saves energy. A typical system costs less than $400 to install.
4. High-efficiency appliances
The EnergyStar label is the gold standard for efficient energy use among appliances, but the designation also indicates water-efficiency for dishwashers and washing machines. The Energy Star-rated Whirlpool Gold Super Capacity Tall Tub Dishwasher, for instance, uses just 6 gallons per cycle, not 12 to 14 like older models, and its soil sensors ensure that wash cycles use less water if dishes aren’t as dirty.
5. Rainwater collection system
Using a non-asphalt roof as a catchment area, a rainwater collection system funnels water into a cistern, then sends it through a series of micron filters and an ultraviolet bath to kill bacteria. Instead of spending money on a water bill, homeowners simply pay for the electricity needed to pump water from their cistern into their home’s regular plumbing system. Even a brief rain event on a 2,000-square-foot roof surface can add 650 gallons to the cistern.
6. Zoned irrigation controllers
While indoor water use has been dropping since the early 1990s, outdoor residential water use has climbed to 50 to 70 percent of total water demand. The biggest sponge is your lawn. To control the amount of water you use outside, consider investing in a multi-function timer that can be programmed to water different zones, like trees, shrubs, flower beds and turf. Changing your irrigation schedule with each season also will reduce overwatering and runoff.
7. Lawn humidity sensors
Another way to prevent overwatering is to install a relative humidity sensor, like the WeatherMiser, from Weathermiser Energy Efficiency Corp. It monitors humidity and evaporation and electronically interrupts your sprinkler cycle if moist conditions render watering unnecessary. A more high-tech version is the WeatherTRAK system, which has a controller that receives up-to-the-minute satellite data on weather conditions for your area. It then adjusts its irrigation of your landscape accordingly.
Bonus Feature:
Conduct Your Own Water Audit
Some high desert cities, like Tucson, Ariz., offer free water audits to residents interested in scaling back their water use. Check with your town’s water department to see if it offers a similar program — or simply audit your own home with these ideas from Tracey Berry, a commercial conservation specialist with City of Tucson Water:
- Check for toilet leaks. Add a water-soluble dye tab or several drops of food coloring to the tank of your toilet. If the flapper is leaking, the dye will filter into the bowl after a few minutes. Even a subtle leak can waste 100 gallons of water a day and leave you with a hefty water bill. A replacement flapper, on the other hand, costs only a few dollars and is easily installed by even the least handy of homeowners.
- Find local rebates. Switching to a high-efficiency dishwasher or washing machine is costly, but in certain parts of the country you can get a discount for doing so. In Albuquerque, N.M., for instance, homeowners can earn a $125 rebate for installing a low-flow toilet, $100 for a high-efficiency washer and up to $800 for converting to xeriscaping.
- Adjust landscape watering. Observe your irrigation system to see if adjusting a sprinkler head could avoid sidewalk runoff. In a hot climate, set automatic sprinklers so that you’re watering early in the day or late in the evening to avoid evaporation. Also, remind yourself to check your irrigation schedule frequently; in the fall and winter you should water less often.
We Made The Top Fifty Eco-Blogs List!
Not only are we famous in China, and on some peoples top ten must read list, but the Times Online in the UK things we are among the “must read” eco-blogs on the internet. Gosh chaps, your gonna make a fellow blush. (I am trying to type British, I have a feeling I am failing)
The Sietch Blog
Proof that ‘eco warriors’ need not be humourless party poopers, the Sietch Blog is the voice of the Sietch Community
(‘A community of friends changing the world for the better’). It
presents serious information and analysis, as well as light-hearted
stories, such as the bicycle forklift.
Not to be outshined, our good friend Keith also made the list for his new The Unsuitablog! Way to go Keith!
The Unsuitablog
Seeks to name and shame companies engaging in environmental hypocrisy. Check
out the ‘subvertising’ gallery for advertising campaigns altered to
expose environmental hypocrites.
Thanks Times Online! And thanks to everyone that helps make The Sietch Blog what it is. I couldn’t do it without all of you. Be sure to check out the list to get in touch with lots of other good green sites on the net.
A (Dangerous) Waste Of Energy
So we all know that old fashion incandescent bulbs are wasteful. What we might not realize is how they are wasteful. Have you ever looked into a toaster? You will see little glowing red lines, these glowing heaters work on the same principle that electric stoves do. Push electricity through a metal wire, the wire heats up, and you get toast. You can see the wires in the toaster because if you heat them up enough they glow a dull red.
Incandescent bulbs work on this same principle. The little tungsten wire in the bulb heats up so much that it doesn’t just glow red, but a vibrant white. The problem being that most of the energy you put into an incandescent bulb goes towards producing heat (something like 80%) and only a little bit ends up as light. Incandescent bulbs are basically really bright toasters. CFL’s on the other hand make more light with less because they use a different method to produce light. They use a florescent gas that glows bright (and cool) when electricity is passed through it. That is why CFL’s don’t heat up, and use so much less energy.
Anyone who has touched a hot bulb knows that they are nothing to mess around with. Well recently I found this little gem.
Not only was this tiny bathroom like a sauna as the bulbs were left on all the time, but it is clear they are placed too close to the ceiling. This room is in desperate need of some CFL’s. Do you have any examples of pictures like this? Not only waste, but dangerous waste? If so please contact us and we will post them.
Greenpeace : Business As Usual
The Unsuitablog having a go at Greenpeace? That can’t be right, can it?
Yes it can. Since its formation in 1971, Greenpeace have been right at the heart of the modern environmental campaigning movement: amongst their many victories have been putting the protection of whales on a global footing…
Well, that’s all I can think of. I admit to having considerable empathy with the fearless anti-logging campaigners in South America, and the work of some of their more underground activists who rarely get much credit in the PR-ridden world that has become “Nu-Green Campaigning”, but I have more than a little antagonism for the people running the campaigns in the rich countries which contain most of Greenpeace’s member base.
The list of crimes is too many to go into detail here: needless to say, numerous battles have been lost due to their recent practice of kow-towing to the consumer culture. In a nutshell, there [...]
Original post by keith
NASA’s New Catalytic Converter Reduces Pollution 30%
Via Techwatch, NASA’s show about how they are using space tech to solve earth problems.
This looks pretty cool, yet another reason we should have a well funded science and space program in this country. It apparently can work at lower temperatures meaning it kicks in sooner and is more effective throughout it’s use. 30% is a huge reduction, lets hope that these sort of devices make it to the market sooner rather than later.
(video via)
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