| Innovation Means Conservation |
Page 1 of 2 (ARA) - I’ve done the unthinkable. I’ve stopped running our tap water while I brush my teeth. This may sound like a small contribution to water conservation, but I save more than five gallons of water every time I brush my teeth, just by turning off the running water. At three times a day, seven days a week, that adds up to more than 5,000 gallons a year, and equals more than one month of water for the average person in the United States -- a big savings for a small change in daily routine. We can make many other small changes when it comes to water conservation, especially in the bathroom. Daily habits we begin today will keep water in supply for generations if we follow a few simple guidelines. Choose Wisely Numerous companies, from hybrid car manufacturers to bathroom fixture manufacturers, have joined the environmental effort, giving us smarter choices for everyday products. The bathroom is among the best places in the house to put water conservation into action. Did you know that if you have a toilet from 1994 or before, it can use as much as seven gallons for a single flush? That’s a lot compared to today’s 1.6-gallon per flush (gfp) toilets -- the maximum allowable flush volume by law. Older toilets can also waste water through leaks, which are often undetectable. Worn rubber flappers degrade and warp and can leak up to 200 gallons of water a day. You can check for leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring into the tank. If the coloring has trickled into the bowl over the course of 15 minutes, you’ve got a leak. (If you try this test, don’t leave the food coloring in the tank more than 15 minutes or it could permanently stain your fixture.) A relatively inexpensive way to conserve is to purchase a new low-consumption toilet. The American Standard FloWise toilet was the first gravity-fed toilet to reduce water consumption by more than 20 percent from 1.6-gallons to a 1.28-gallon flow rate. Many people are afraid to let go of their old water-guzzling toilets because they think the newer low-flow models don’t work. But the FloWise can deliver high-efficiency performance because it uses American Standard’s proprietary Champion 4 flushing technology, which forces the water into the bowl three times faster than a standard toilet. The FloWise gets a lot of power out of less water. Now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is helping consumers choose the right products by marking them with the new WaterSense label. WaterSense works much like the ENERGY STAR program for appliances. By prominently designating products and services that conserve water and perform as intended, the labeling program makes it easy for consumers to identify and select high-performance water-efficient products for their homes. |
Popular
Poll
Online TV
Search
Columnists
 Bob Aaron is a Toronto real estate lawyer. |
HandyThings
Sections
Columnists
| Bob Aaron |
| Alan Heavens |
A BELFAIR GROUP iBRANDS PROPERTY