Water Waste Concerns: Why Saving Water For Summer Months Is Key

During the summer when temperatures are hot and rainfall is scarce, water conservation is extremely important. As a result, people always look for new ways to cut down on water waste and save money. This habit is important in areas that experience severe droughts since water usage is often closely monitored.

However, the good news is there are many ways people can cut down on water usage at home and at work. If you’re interested in learning more about water conservation, take a look at some of the ideas below.

Take A Shower, Not A Bath

While taking a long bath may be relaxing after a hard day’s work, the fact is doing so can waste tremendous amounts of water. Rather than doing this, most plumbers recommend taking a shower instead.

According to plumbers, the average bath uses between 30-50 gallons of water, but a modern shower that uses a low-flow showerhead can use as little as 10 gallons of water. In most cases, even more, water is wasted during a bath, since a bathtub is often filled up more than once most of the time.

To make sure the maximum amount of water is saved, don’t bother with the bath and ensure a low-flow showerhead is installed. In homes that have older showers, the average person uses about 20 gallons of water, which is twice the amount they would use with a low-flow showerhead.

Take Care of The Toilet

In addition to saving water by showering instead of bathing, another way to guarantee you’ll save plenty of water during the summer is to make sure the toilet in your home is in good working order. To ensure that your toilet is efficient, there are a few things that should be checked by a plumber.

The first of these involves toilets that you suspect are leaking since these leaks can often be sources of large amounts of water waste and money being flushed down the toilet. Because toilet flushing accounts for more water usage than any other home activity, it’s vital to keep everything in the home in top shape. One of the best ways to do so is by replacing old toilets with new, low-flow toilets. On average, old toilets use up to seven gallons of water per flush, while today’s newer toilets use less than two gallons with each flush.

Along with this, a leaky toilet can waste hundreds of gallons of water over the course of a year if undetected, leading to plenty of money going down the drain. And if you want to guarantee plenty of water being wasted, try using the toilet as a trash can. By throwing bandages, tissues, baby wipes, and other items down the toilet, clogs will form and waste even more water as well as money.

Always Check the Faucets

Because it seems as if everyone is always standing at the faucet getting a drink of cold water in the summer, it’s more important than ever to make sure the faucets in a home are in the best possible condition.

If there is one thing that will waste water and money during the summer, it’s a leaky faucet. While one little drop at a time may seem like no big deal, it’s anything but that. According to plumbers, that one little drop of water at a time can add up to as much as 2,700 gallons of water per year if left unchecked. If we multiply this by the number of faucets in a typical home, the amount of water being wasted could be staggering.

To make sure your water and money are not wasted, have a plumber inspect your home’s pipes and make any repairs needed to those that may be leaking or dripping. While it may cost a bit to have some repairs done, it will often pale in comparison to the amount of money that will be wasted as a result of leaks and drips.

Be Smart About Your Laundry

During the summer months, people often find themselves doing plenty of laundry due to the increased time spent being outside. As a result, additional amounts of water may be wasted for a variety of reasons. In homes that have older model washing machines, the amount of water being wasted with each load can be staggering.

To guard against this, most plumbers recommend purchasing a high-efficiency washing machine, which uses much less energy and needs less water to wash a large load of clothing. And once the high-efficiency machine is in place, make it a point to only do large loads of laundry, since this will also cut down on the amount of water being used. In doing so, you’ll not only save water and money but time as well.

After all, nobody wants to be inside doing laundry all day when they can be outside enjoying a refreshing dip in the swimming pool or sitting in the shade with some lemonade.

Your Lawn and Your Water

Needless to say, the warm summer months bring with them plenty of work on the lawn and garden. To make sure your water conservation efforts are effective here as well, there are several things you can do. For example, if you have an automatic sprinkler system, make sure watering is done only in the early morning or late afternoon to ensure less water evaporation.

Also, make sure the sprinkler is actually watering the grass and flowers, rather than spraying the side of the house or the driveway. Not only can this wastewater, but potentially cause damage to the home as well.

By using these and other methods of conservation, you’ll find water waste will be kept to a minimum or eliminated entirely. To make sure you’re set for the summer months ahead, have a plumber inspect your home’s plumbing system for any leaks or other problems.

If you need expert service in your Austin, TX home, contact S & D Plumbing today.