Many of us in water- rationed areas are under mandatory water rationing. While outdoor watering has been addressed, indoor use has not. Did you know the bathroom is one of the largest water uses, with a toilet using up to 27% according to the EPA.
I just got to Eco Ya
- The average toilet uses 6 Gallons of water per flush. If one person flushes 3x a day that equates to 18 Gallons a day or 5,570 Gallons per year.
- The average shower without a low flow expends 5 gallons per minute. A 10 minutes shower can use 50 Gallons a day or 18,250 Gallons of drinking water per year.
- Bathroom and kitchen sink faucets account for 16% of the water used in an average home. Bathroom faucets run at about 2-5 Gallons a minute. Running water while brushing your teeth can take up to 6 gallons of water.
Installing Eco Friendly Toilets and Sinks along with a low flow shower heads does not have to be expensive. It will save water and lots of green in the long run.
The biggest thing you can do for the whole house is to install an Instant Water Heater. They work, I installed one and had my family install in their homes. Instant hot water heaters will save thousands of wasted water while you are waiting for the hot water to come on. If that is not an option, try turning down the water pressure in your home. Less water will come out, saving gallons of water everyday.
In The Shower
- Install low flow shower heads. Low Flow shower heads work, I have one and have never felt the shower is any different that before. Savings: 2.5 gallons per minute.
- Reduce your shower time to three minutes.
- Use a WaterSense labeled shower head.
- Put a bucket under the faucet and reuse the water for plants and flushing the toilet. I do this and have the best garden.
Toilets
- Flush less. The adage when it’s yellow, let it mellow is true. Nobody will die if you don’t flush urine every single time. Reducing flushes by even one time a day will save 6 gallons a day minimum on older toilets.
- Install a Dual Flush Toilet. I installed one of these in a home and it worked great. Dual flush has 2 flushes , one for the solid waste (1.6 gallons per flush) and the other for non solid waste (.79 gallons per flush) Savings about 15 gallons a day.
- Composting Toilets– If you have seen any Tiny Houses, these are generally the toilets they use. There are several types of these Dry Toilets which use little to no water. The idea is to reuse the waste via various composting techniques in agricultural soil enrichment.
Bathroom Sinks
- The easiest thing to do is not let the water run. Turn water off when brushing teeth, washing hands and face.
- Install an aerator. Aerators are inexpensive and easy to install. Again look for a WaterSense Label.
- WaterSense Faucets can save up to 40% less water.
All of this especially important for those who live in mandatory water rationing areas. Not just because we need the water. Water bills will be going up. Food bills will be going up. More jobs will be lost, which means other bills will be going up. If we (all seven states) don’t get more water, more cuts will occur and the day of any outdoor watering, showers, flushes and more will be rationed even more.
Resources
I think that South Africa is facing a big problem when it comes to water usage because most families in the township do not even pay for the water they are using , they do not use it sparingly either because they don’t have to worry about the costs. The Municipality here needs to wake up and actually do something about this situation, people need to be educated, an awareness needs to be made before its too late.Inkomati Catchment Management Agency has been creating awareness and trying to work together with the community and educating them on how important it is to save water, but the municipality needs to step in.