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Water Efficiency
Save Water, Save Money

The average household spends as much as $500 per year on its water and sewer bill. By making just a few simple changes to use water more efficiently, you could save about $170 per year. If all U.S. households installed water-efficient appliances, the country would save more than 3 trillion gallons of water and more than $18 billion dollars per year! Also, when we use water more efficiently, we reduce the need for costly water supply infrastructure investments and new wastewater treatment facilities.

Save Water, Save Energy

It takes a considerable amount of energy to deliver and treat the water you use everyday. American public water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year—enough electricity to power more than 5 million homes for an entire year. For example, letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours.

By reducing household water use you can not only help reduce the energy required to supply and treat public water supplies but also can help address climate change. In fact:
  • If one out of every 100 American homes retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, we could save about 100 million kWh of electricity per year—avoiding 80,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. That is equivalent to removing nearly 15,000 automobiles from the road for one year!
  • If 1 percent of American homes replaced their older, inefficient toilets with WaterSense labeled models, the country would save more than 38 million kWh of electricity—enough to supply more than 43,000 households electricity for one month.
How Much Water Do We Use?

This chart illustrates how and where water is used in a typical home. Home water use varies considerably depending on household size, water use practices, climate, type of plumbing fixtures, appliances and other factors. The two largest water users are toilets and clothes washers. Note that nearly 14 percent of the water a typical homeowner pays for is never used – it leaks down the drain.

Outdoor water use varies considerably by climate zone and can be two or three times greater than indoor water use in hot, dry areas of the country.


Simple Low Cost Ways To Save Water & Money

In The Kitchen…
  • Keep drinking water in the refrigerator instead of letting the faucet run until the water is cool
  • Wash fruits and vegetables in a basin
  • Do not use water to defrost frozen foods; thaw them in the refrigerator overnight
  • Use a dishpan for washing and rinsing dishes
  • Operate the dishwasher only when completely full
  • Use a vegetable brush to clean produce
In the Laundry…
  • Use the appropriate water level or load size selection on the washing machine
  • Wash full loads whenever possible
In The Bathroom…
  • Fix leaky faucets
  • Never use your toilet as a wastebasket
  • Don’t let the water run while shaving or brushing your teeth
  • Take short showers instead of tub baths
  • Turn off the water flow while soaping or shampooing
  • Before pouring water down the drain, consider other uses for it, such as watering a plant or garden
Outdoors…
  • Sweep driveways, sidewalks, and steps rather than hosing them off
  • Wash the car from a bucket, or consider using a commercial car wash that recycles water
  • When using a hose, control the flow with an automatic shutoff valve
  • Check your sprinkler system for leaks, overspray and broken sprinkler heads
  • Use a pool cover to reduce evaporation when the pool is not in use
Top Water Saving Investments

There are many ways to save water in and around your home. Here are a few of the top investments you can make. Many water agencies provide rebates on these and other water conservation measures. Check with your local water agency for programs available in your area.

High-Efficiency Clothes Washers

High-Efficiency Clothes Washers (HEWs) utilize technological advances to deliver excellent wash performance while saving both water and energy. They use a front-loading basket that lifts and drops clothes in and out of water. This action flexes the weave of the fabric and forces water and detergent through the entire load. Compare this to a typical top-loading washer that uses a full tub of water to push the clothes back and forth.

Resource efficient models use 35-50% less water and approximately 50% less energy. The water efficiency of clothes washers is rated using the term "water factor" to describe and compare its water use. Water factor is measured by the quantity of water (gallons) used to wash each cubic foot of laundry. A lower water factor represents greater water and energy efficiency.

When purchasing a new clothes washers look for the ENERGY STAR label. Most full-sized ENERGY STAR washers use 18-25 gallons of water per load, compared to the 40 gallons used by a standard machine. Energy efficient models also spin the clothes better, resulting in less drying time.

High-Efficiency Toilets

Federal law currently mandates that all toilets manufactured in the U.S. must use an average of 1.6 gallons per flush or less. These 1.6 gallons per flush toilets are often referred to as Ultra-Low-Flush Toilets (ULFTs). Toilets made from the early 1980s to 1992 used 3.5 gallons per flush or more. Toilets made prior to 1980 used 5.0 to 7.0 or higher gallons per flush.

Today’s toilets perform better with less water per flush, because of innovations such as pressure assisted flushing and the new dual-flush concept. These technologies can cut water use to 1.28 gallons or less, and are more durable and reliable than traditional ball and flapper models.

High-Efficiency Toilets (HETs) are defined as fixtures that flush at 20 percent below the 1.6-gallons-per-flush U.S. maximum or less, equating to a maximum of 1.28 gallons-per-flush.

Rotating-Nozzles

The latest innovation in sprinkler technology are nozzles that turn a standard sprinkler head into a precision device that can water your landscape better using 20 percent less water. In addition the water jetting from these nozzles is more resistant to wind, less likely to mist, and significantly reduces runoff onto streets and sidewalks.

These nozzles shoot multi-trajectory, rotating streams that apply water more slowly and uniformly than conventional sprays and rotors - especially when adjusted for specific site conditions.

Pop-up spray heads with rotary nozzles use less water than spray heads with traditional nozzles because they operate with lower precipitation rates, greater uniformity of distribution and a greater radius of coverage. In many cases, you can update your existing sprinkler head with a new rotary nozzle without having to change out the entire sprinkler body. Often you will need fewer rotary nozzles than conventional nozzles because the rotary ones have a greater radius of coverage.

Smart Sprinkler Controllers

The latest innovation in irrigation is the smart sprinkler controller, a device that gives your plants the right amount of water for the time of year, climate and weather. A smart sprinkler controller automatically adjusts irrigation schedules in response to changing weather conditions. It monitors information such as rain, wind, temperature, humidity, soil moisture, the amount of time it takes for water to evaporate and plant type to calculate the amount of water needed to keep plants healthy.

Smart controllers are also called “weather-based irrigation controllers”. Water savings depends on how efficient your irrigation system is, how much water you are using right now and where you live. In one study, residents saved more than 40 gallons per household per day after installation.

Smart controllers are a new technology and may be hard to find. More and more retail stores are starting to stock the smart sprinkler controllers. You may also want to check with your local irrigation supply outlet or garden store. Smart controllers range in cost from about $150 to $600 and depending upon where you live, water agency rebates may be available.

Synthetic Turf

Synthetic turf is a grass-like, man made surface similar to carpet. Today’s synthetic grasses are superior to their predecessors, using a combination of synthetic fibers woven into a mat. Some also use a sand-and-rubber infill layer near the base to simulate the look and feel of natural turf.

Synthetic turf can be used just about anywhere that could have turf grass. It is an excellent choice for small, hard to irrigate areas like parkways and small strips of grass.

At a typical residence (with about 750 square feet of turf), the installation of synthetic turf can conserve over 30,000 gallons of water per year. Synthetic turf also requires no fertilizer, no pesticides, no mowing and reduces urban runoff caused by irrigation. It also cuts down on the amount of green waste, like lawn clippings, going into landfills.