Wise Water Usage.

a precious resource

In the SF Bay Area, we enjoy clean, potable, good tasting tap water and often take it for granted that it’ll always be there.  As you know, this resource isgetting more and more scarce for a number reasons. I’ll first start off by identifying areas of waste, you can think of ways to stop this waste on your own …

• Dreading dripping faucet, could lose up to 6 gal/day (replace/fix it)
• Old toilet, uses 3.5 – 6 gal/flush (replace it)
• Running H2O while washing dishes, 20 gal/wash (stop it. fill one side for rinsing)
• Leaky toilet, could lose up to 40 gal/day (replace the stopper)
• Running H2O while brushing your teeth, @ 2x/day, 3.5 gal/day (use a cup)
• Washing machine loads, ~41 gal/load (get new one and/or use full loads only)

Go Low-flow. Use low flow shower heads (1.5 gal/min) and faucet aerators – can save up to 40% … you’ll never feel the difference!

Low Commode. Newer ones use as little as 1.3 gal/flush

Catch it. Consider install water catchment systems to be used in watering your landscape. This is the easiest way to conserve water for the landscape. Or, if you really want to go for it, consider a gray-water system that’ll take your shower water & sink (not food waste portion) and filter it through a system is used to water your landscape.  City permits and professional installation/advice is highly recommended for installing this type of system.