How Much Water are You Using?

January 6, 2017

Turning on the tap, most of us wouldn’t give this a second thought. Whether we are getting a glass of water, taking a shower, or running a load of laundry, water consumption has become an afterthought. Have you ever sat down and wondered how much H2O you actually use in a day?

The Department of Interior estimates that the average person uses between 80 and 100 gallons of water every day. That may seem like a huge number, but when you consider how much water everyday activities and appliances use, it is easy to see how that number can reach three figures. The average shower uses 5 gallons per minute. Your dishwasher uses between 6 and 16 gallons depending on its efficiency. Also, each toilet flush uses 2-6 gallons and a load of laundry uses 30+ gallons. Find out how much water you use with this consumption calculator.

As a country, we waste 1 trillion (you read that right, trillion) gallons of water every year. This number is almost too big to fathom. Luckily, there are many things we can all do to help bring this number down. The biggest and most effective is to purchase energy efficient appliances. The PACE program has made this an affordable choice for all! In addition to these purchases, there are smaller steps you can take that will make a daily impact to reducing your consumption.

• Buy low flow shower heads and faucets.
• Decrease shower length.
• Turn off tap while brushing your teeth and face.
• Take care of drips immediately.
• Check for and fix toilet flapper valve leaks.
• Adjust your sprinkler system to be more efficient and run only on non-rainy days or choose low maintenance plants.
• Harvest rain water to use for your watering your lawn, washing pets, and washing your car.

These small changes can make a difference on your environment and on your utility bills. For more information on fixing leaks or purchasing high efficiency faucets, toilets, water heaters, and more, contact us today!