What to Know About Water Usage and Conservation

Water may flow endlessly from your tap whenever you want it, but this is a limited resource that not everyone has access to. Once you understand the scarcity of freshwater, you’ll better understand the need to conserve it.

Facts About Water Usage

As you strive to make water usage efficiency a part of your daily life, it helps to know some facts about water usage. Some of these statistics may surprise you.

• Only 1% of the world’s water supply is fresh and available to drink. 2% is frozen, and 97% is salt water.
• The average American consumes 140 to 170 gallons of water each day.
• People in the United States collectively drink 110 million gallons of water daily.
• The average bathtub holds 37 gallons of water.
• A five-minute shower consumes 15 to 25 gallons of water.
• A family of four uses about 880 gallons of water per week just to flush the toilet.
• If every house in the US had a leaky faucet that dipped once per second, 928 million gallons of water would leak away per day.

Water Conservation Tips

Here are six easy ways to save water, conserving this natural resource and lowering your utility bills in the process:

1. Fix plumbing leaks. Repair leaky toilets and faucets as soon as you discover them. Then, take the time to detect hidden leaks that could be wasting water every day unbeknownst to you.
2. Don’t use your toilet as a trash can. The only things that belong in the toilet are toilet paper and human waste. Follow this strategy to reduce water usage and lower the risk of a plumbing clog while you’re at it.
3. Install water-saving faucets and showerheads. These fixtures have built-in aerators that restrict flow by at least 25% by adding air to the water stream.
4. Turn the water off when you don’t need it. Combine your new showerhead with shorter showers to use the least amount of water possible. Also, turn off the faucet when shaving or brushing your teeth to reduce waste.
5. Insulate your pipes. Use pre-slit foam pipe insulation to help the water heat up faster at the tap. This way, less water pours down the drain while you wait for it to get hot.
6. Only run full loads of dishes and laundry. An energy-efficient dishwasher uses less water than washing dishes by hand, but you should still wait until the appliance is full before running it. Then, wash your clothes in cold water whenever possible to save on water heating costs as well.

Puget Sound Plumbing and Heating can repair wasteful leaks, install aerated faucets and water-saving toilets, and ensure your plumbing system flows smoothly. After over 20 years of meeting our customers’ needs, you can rest assured that we’ll get the job done right the first time around. So call us today at (206) 350-0079 or contact us online to request plumbing services in Seattle or the surrounding counties.