Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue, WaterSense Fixtures Bring Savings to You
February 11, 2022This Valentine’s weekend, why not show a little love … to your bathroom?
Bathrooms are the single biggest water users in your home, accounting for more than half of all indoor water use. And frequently, they also are the biggest water wasters. That’s not only bad for the planet, it’s also bad for your pocketbook, too.
Sometimes, this can be resolved easily by replacing a leaky toilet flapper, fixing a dripping sink fixture, or just taking shorter showers. But in some cases, the culprit is simply outdated technology.
Out with the Old
Toilets installed before 1982 use about 5 to 7 gallons per flush, and old showerheads can use up to 5 gallons of water a minute! A ten-minute shower, then, would use 50 gallons of water. That means a family of four could use more than 200 gallons of water a day just on showers. And over the course of a year, assuming four showers a day every day, that family will use 73,000 gallons of water — and that’s if they’re not stretching those showers beyond the 10-minute mark.
Compare those numbers with WaterSense plumbing fixtures — showerheads, faucets, and toilets designed to drastically reduce wasted water while improving performance.
An EPA-labeled WaterSense showerhead will use between 2 and 1.5 gallons a minute, depending on the model. A WaterSense toilet uses about 1.6 gallons of water per flush.
At 2 gallons per minute, over 10 minutes, a WaterSense showerhead would use just 80 gallons of water a day for a family of four. Over the course of a year, that’s a savings of 43,800 gallons from the shower alone!
Plus, your water heater won’t have nearly as much work to do — another savings. Replacing the toilet and sink with WaterSense fixtures would produce even bigger benefits.
Cost-Effective Solutions
Updating your bathroom fixtures won’t break the bank, either. WaterSense labeled fixtures are available in a wide variety of styles and price points, so there are many options to meet your design and budget. From classic to modern, these products can create the look you desire, as well as the quality you demand.
Every fixture that earns the WaterSense label has been tested and independently certified for both water efficiency and performance. Even better, WaterSense labeled fixtures pay for themselves quickly and keep saving money.
Simple “Bath Hacks”
Not ready for a full remodel? There are still a few simple steps you can take to start saving right away:
- Replace the aerators on your faucets with WaterSense labeled models to save 700 gallons of water and enough energy to power your hair dryer every year.
- For just a few dollars, a new toilet flapper ends leaks that can waste 30 gallons of water or more per day.
- Use a timer and cut those long showers down to less than 10 minutes.
Show your bathroom — and your checking account — a little love this Valentine’s weekend. To learn more and see the range of available WaterSense products, visit www.epa.gov/watersense today.