Nobody likes the idea of flushing money down the drain. Yet, if you’re not intentional about your water usage, that could be what you do every month.
One of the best ways to save money on your monthly water bill is to investigate how you may be wasting water in your residential and commercial properties.
As makers of the best remote water monitoring system on the market, we here at BlueBot are here today to outline the practical steps you can take to ensure water waste reduction.
According to the US EPA, 10% of homes have leaks, wasting 90 gallons or more of water daily. Nationwide, this amounts to an estimated 1 trillion gallons of water wasted annually.
These leaks can result from many places, but the most common culprits include:
These easily corrected water leaks lead to bills that are, on average, 10% higher than needed. Over time, the long-term costs for property owners can add up.
A good way to check for leaks is to designate a period during which no one in your home or business is actively using water. Check your meter before and after this period, and if water usage is recorded, you can begin investigating the source of the leak.
Of course, it doesn’t have to be that hard.
Installing a smart water meter with leak detection is a simple way to monitor your home’s water usage.
Water-efficient appliances not only keep you from wasting water—thereby diverting more to our streams, rivers, and bays and helping address the water shortage—but also save you money in the long run:
Homes with high-efficiency plumbing fixtures and appliances save about 30 percent of indoor water use and yield substantial savings on water, sewer, and energy bills.
When upgrading to efficient dishwashers, washing machines, and low-flow showerheads, always look for WaterSense-labeled water fixtures and ENERGY STAR-certified appliances.
Such items are not only water-efficient but also energy-efficient, allowing you to save additional money on your monthly energy bill.
Modern irrigation systems have been intentionally crafted to reduce water waste. Therefore, if your irrigation system is old and outdated, you’re not availing yourself of the latest water-saving options.
Innovative features like rain sensors, drip irrigation, smart water flow meters, and automated timers can ensure that the right amount of water is always used. This prevents overwatering, which wastes resources and causes unnecessary plant damage.
These features make it even easier to optimize irrigation throughout the year. Nowadays, automated timers can be finely calibrated to always meet your plants’ seasonal needs.
According to the EPA, making even one of these simple irrigation updates, such as pivoting from a clock-based watering method to a WaterSense-labeled irrigation controller, could save the household 15,000 gallons of water annually.
Specific tasks we complete every day, such as brushing our teeth, washing the dishes, taking showers, and shaving, may cause us to use more water than necessary.
Instead of leaving the water running continuously throughout each task, we can turn the tap on only when we need an active flow, thereby saving water.
According to the EPA, such small changes can have a significant impact.
Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth in the morning and before bedtime can save up to 8 gallons of water! That’s more than 200 gallons a month, enough to fill a huge fish tank with six small sharks!
In addition, you may choose to adopt some more mindful water-use habits around the house, such as using a basin to rinse your dishes or clean your fruits and vegetables.
While rainwater is not recommended for drinking (at least, not unless it has been adequately filtered and treated), there are still many benefits to harvesting rainwater for water waste reduction.
For example, harvested rainwater can meet many non-potable needs, including watering the gardens, cleaning, or flushing your toilets.
Harvesting and reusing rainwater can also reduce your water bill while reducing your reliance on municipal water.
To get started with rainwater harvesting, follow these steps:
Though it’s not always a consideration for all property owners, landscaping choices directly impact water use.
Practicing efficient landscaping to avoid wasting water is a great way to lower residential and small business water costs.
By investing in drought-resistant plants and xeriscaping, property owners can significantly reduce the amount of water they use daily while having high curb appeal.
Common water-saving landscaping strategies include:
Toilets are not trash bins. Using them as such can lead to serious consequences.
Flushing even small items—including tissues, cotton swabs, and other disposables—not only leads to unnecessary flushing but can also cause damage to your plumbing system.
Even one wrong item being flushed down the toilet can clog your toilet and lead to a costly and messy sewage backup.
So, what should you flush? Only the “Three P’s”: pee, poop, and (toilet) paper.
To reduce the chance of a toilet being used as a rubbish bin, ensure that small trash cans are placed near the toilet in every restroom.
Also, if you live with others or work in community spaces, it may be worth your time to educate the other people in your environment on the potential hazards of flushing unnecessary items.
Even small changes in personal hygiene can save water.
Little steps such as intentionally taking shorter showers, turning off the taps while soaping up hands, hair, or body, or investing in low-flow fixtures in your showers and sinks can go a long way toward reducing overall household water use.
Actionable steps for personal hygiene water conservation include:
Ultimately, being a good steward of water resources and saving money on your monthly water bill can be as simple as choosing one of the eight steps listed above and getting started.
Once you have accomplished that first small change, choose another item from the list and get to work.
The next thing you know, you will have revolutionized the way you use water and will be practicing maximum water efficiency every single day.
While conserving water does require effort and mindfulness, preventing water waste goes a long way toward saving money and taking care of the environment. It’s worth the time and attention.
Here at Bluebot, we provide practical solutions for monitoring water use and saving on costs associated with wasting water.
To learn more about how it works and start cutting down on your daily water consumption, contact Bluebot today!
