Did you know that saving money and protecting the environment is about more than just your electricity bill? Our water supply is something that we rarely think about. Yet, it may have a much bigger impact on the ecological systems that are in place.
Water tables (that’s the water that is naturally stored underground) are dropping. As water consumption rises, the large aquifers are being drained. Disagreement over water rights betweeen Alabama and Georgia have practically brought those state to blows. As wetlands begin to dry up, thousands of unique species become endangered. So, what can you do to stop contributing to this disaster?
To have the greatest impact, let’s head to the room that uses the most amount of water. Which room is that? If you guessed the bathroom, then you would be correct. When you add up showers, baths, toilet flushes and everything else, the bathroom uses more water than any other room in the house.
On average, the toilet by itself uses 27 percent of the household water supply. That’s the first fixture you need to concentrate on. If you have an older toilet, it probably uses from four to seven gallons with every flush. By switching to a lower flow toilet, you could reduce this by as much as 80 percent!
You also need to make sure there are no leaks in or around your toilet. A badly leaking toilet can waste as much as 200 gallons per day. Not only is this a drain to the water supply, it also is very damaging to your utility budget. Getting absolutely no use out of that 200 gallons every day is incredibly wasteful. Replacing your old toilet with a new one and making sure everying is sealed up tight will pay for itself in almost no time.
Watching your water usage is easy to do, and it has an immediate positive effect on your budget. It also helps to ensure that your children and grandchildren will have clean water to drink and use when they grow up.
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