First: Using less saves you money. According to the EPA the average American family spends around $500 per year for water and sewage.
Second: It takes a considerable amount of energy to treat and deliver water to your home. American water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 billion kilowatt-hours per year – Enough to power more than 5 million homes for an entire year.
Tips to reduce water usage in the home
Easier Fixes
Fix that leak - Leaky faucets that drip at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water each year.
Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth in the morning and at bedtime can save up to 8 gallons of water per day
Install a low-flow showerhead which can reduce water usage 50-70% taking a normal 25 gallon shower down to 10 gallons
Dishwasher vs Hand-washing. Depending on the age of your dishwasher most newer models save water and energy over hand-washing. For more information on how to further decrease energy use follow these tips
Harder Fixes
Upgrade your toilet - Toilets installed before 1994 use around 3.5 gallons per flush while new low flow toilets use 1.6 gallons or less.
Reuse your Graywater - What is Graywater? Graywater is water not contaminated with human waste and makes up 50-80% of household wastewater. There are whole house systems of collected and reusing graywater but these are expensive and probably overkill for Ohio. A smaller simpler system fits under the sink and reuses sink water for flushing the toilet. For more information check out the AQUS System
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