3 Ways to Save Water With Every Flush
If we are to believe figures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), water consumption is at its highest with about 400 gallons being used daily by an average family of four. Just how much water is this? The recommended eight glasses a day is roughly around half a gallon, which means we are wasting the equivalent of drinking water good enough for 800 people. What is one of the biggest contributor to this excessive water consumption? The toilet! So do we just limit our flushing to conserve water? Not necessarily so, and here are some ways you can save with every flush.
Invest in Dual Flush
With all the advances in technology extending to toilet designs, putting your money in dual flush toilets is one way of saving with every flush. This investment cuts down your water consumption and significantly lowers your water bill. Is the starting price of $250 per unit worth it? Yes!
On the average a dual flush toilet will use only up to 1.6 gallons of water with every flush. This is extremely efficient when you compare it to the 3.5 gallons consumed with each flush using toilets made before 1992. The design makes use of two buttons (hence the name dual flush), each designated for a specific purpose.
The first button (usually a bit smaller in size) is meant to flush down liquid waste by using around 0.8 gallons of water. The second button that takes care of solid waste uses 1.6 gallons. Aside from using less water, the larger trapway design accounts for less clogging. The EPA estimates that this toilet design can save as much as 4,000 gallons of water every year.
Low Flush Toilet
If you do not have the money to shell out $250 for a dual flush toilet, do not despair, you can still make a low flush toilet out of your existing one. Sometimes called the bottle-in-the-tank, it is an offshoot of using a brick to increase the volume of water in your toilet tank. This method is better because it does away with the brick sediment that can damage your toilet tank. It can effectively displace water in the toilet tank and save roughly about 2.5 gallons of water daily.
A plastic milk jug, a liter plastic bottle of soda, or any plastic half gallon container would be ideal for this method. Make sure that any plastic or paper label on the bottle should be completely removed. Pebbles, gravel, sand, or anything material similar to these can be used to fill the container. To add more weight simply add water to the container. You cannot just use water because this will make the container move around the toilet tank and quite possibly restrict the movement of the mechanism in the tank.
Carefully lift the toilet tank cover and set it aside to prevent damaging or breaking it. Carefully lower the container in the toilet tank until it is submerged in water. Replace the lid of the toilet tank. Test your new toilet by flushing a few times to ensure that the mechanism is not hampered. If you save half a gallon with each flush and flush about 5 times every day, then this would be substantial savings.
Remember to screw or seal the lid properly before putting the container in the toilet tank. Secure the container and ensure that the water in the toilet tank is not less than 3 gallons to maintain proper flushing.
Bucket Flush
This method never grows old and will still save you significant amounts of water with every flush. Have at least 2 pieces of 2-gallon buckets handy and fill them with water. One bucket will be good for one flush. Be careful when dumping water into the bowl to make sure none of the water splashes back to you. This will work just as good as the other methods, but the only drawback is that the buckets would not refill automatically. But hey, everybody can use some exercise right?
If your only idea of saving water is to limit your number of flushes, then you are talking to the wrong plumbing professionals. Contact Scott English Plumbing today and learn more about plumbing solutions for your bathroom to help you conserve water and save money.