Concerns about the environment and about your bottom line boil down to the same thing: conserving water is important! Sometimes we waste water without giving a second thought or just think the waste is worth the convenience. Whatever your situation is, you should know these top ten ways Americans waste water:
- Letting the water run while you brush your teeth – according to the EPA, the average American could save up to 3,000 gallons of water per year by just shutting off the sink between wetting a toothbrush and rinsing!
- Letting the water run while you do dishes – the same as with brushing teeth, there really is no need to waste water when you can turn the faucet on and off as needed, especially since most common sinks have a flow of 2.2 gal./sec.
- Taking long showers – everybody has a different limit for how long a ‘long shower’ is, but the national average, if you Google it, is a little over 8 minutes, which still leads to an individual using 120 gal. per week (a number that could be more than halved if we all took a cue from the American sailors who serve on submarines and take showers by getting wet, stopping the water, lathering up, then rinsing off).
- Inefficient showerheads – when you’re browsing shelves for a showerhead to buy, keep an eye out for a blue and green WaterSense label, since some modern showerheads can cut down on water usage by about 20%, which saves a few gallons for each shower.
- Using the toilet like a trash can – every time someone flushes a feminine hygiene product or spider killed in a paper towel instead of disposing in the trash it wastes a few gallons of water, and might even lead to a clog in the sewer line.
- Having an antiquated toilet – much like shower heads, modern toilet technology has made great improvements on how many gallons are used per flush, without compromising on daily convenience.
- Overwatering your lawn – getting proper but not wasteful hydration for a garden can be tricky, especially if you have a mix of vegetation or you’re growing plants that are non-native to your environment, which is why it pays to be mindful of your irrigation schedule and methods on a case by case basis.
- Running the washing machine when it’s half-full – once again, according to the EPA, if an average American family only ran their dishwasher when it’s full, then they’d eliminate one load of dishes per week and save nearly 320 gallons of water annually.
- Running the dishwasher when it’s half-full – while some laundry items are better washed alone or separately, there is little excuse to waste water by not waiting to do a full load.
- Leaky pipes – and leaks in general on average account for, according to the AWWA, about 9% of the average American’s daily water usage!
Conserving water doesn’t just help the world, it also helps you. Another way to help yourself is to contact the Bienvenu Brothers for all your plumbing and HVAC needs. Active in Metarie, LA since 1937, no job is too big or too small! Just call (504) 835-7783.