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5 Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Water Usage

Quality Plumbing • Feb 05, 2019

Reducing your home’s water usage can help you save money on your water bills and is good for the environment. You can do many things to your plumbing to reduce how much water your home uses every month. These following tips can help improve your plumbing and save water.

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1. Replace Pipes

Old pipes can develop leaks. Galvanized piping, in particular, is notorious for developing corrosion, rust, and damage. If you own a home that was built sometime in the mid-20th century, your home likely has galvanized pipes. If this is the case, you are likely to experience leaks and other problems that could result in a lot of wasted water.

In fact, your pipes could have leaks right now and you might not know it. Replacing your pipes with a new plumbing material could help you prevent leaks and save water.

2. Go Low-Flow

Old toilets use as much as 7 gallons of water for every flush. Modern low-flow toilets use as little as 1.28 gallons per flush. That is a lot of money to save each time you use the toilet. If you are not sure how much water your toilet uses, check underneath the lid of the tank or against the back wall of the inside tank – the recorded amount of water your toilet uses is often in one of these two places.

Even if you cannot find information about how much water the tank uses, if you know that the toilet was installed before 1982, the capacity is likely between 5 and 7 gallons . Have a plumber install an ENERGY STAR rated low-flow toilet.

3. Fix the Dishwasher

Dishwashers use a lot less water than you use when you wash your dishes by hand. In fact, ENERGY STAR rated dishwashers use can use as little as 3 gallons of water per load, versus 27 gallons you might use washing your dishes in the sink.

If your dishwasher is broken, now is the time to fix it. If your dishwasher is old, consider replacing it with a modern ENERGY STAR appliance. Either of these things saves hundreds of gallons of water per year.

4. Reduce Water Pressure

High water pressure can damage your pipes and cause leaks. High water pressure can also force the water out of your pipes at a fast rate, causing you to waste water every time you turn on your faucet. Having a plumber install a water pressure regulator can help you reduce water pressure so you can take care of your pipes, avoid leaks, and use less water on a daily basis.

5. Install a Water Aerator

A water aerator is an attachment that screws onto the end of a faucet to slow the flow of water and mix the water with air. Aerators can reduce your water flow from as much as 2.5 gallons per minute to 0.5 gallons per minute, potentially saving you hundreds of gallons of water every month.

Water aerators enable you to get just as much use out of your sinks while using less water at the same time. Water aerators are very common now, so if you have a newer home, often all of your faucets have water aerators.

However, if you have an older home, you may have faucets without water aerators. Check any older faucets, such as in your utility room sink or garage sink.

Contact Your Plumbing Expert

You can do many things to reduce your water bills every month. To find out more about how to do this, contact Quality Plumbing . We will be happy to answer your questions and give you helpful suggestions.

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