Green Homes Special Series Part Five: Water-Efficient Plumbing Fixtures
Across the country, demands on our freshwater resources are growing. About seven percent of the supply goes to household water use. Yet most of that water goes down our drains—wasted by inefficient plumbing fixtures and leaks. Save water by targeting a few areas in your home.
Efficient Products Managing the country’s water supply is a rising concern, yet many Americans are unaware of how much water they waste. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that each person uses about 80 to100 gallons of water per day and a lot of it goes down the toilet.
One program raising awareness is the Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program created in 2006. The voluntary partnership encourages consumer demand for water-efficient products and services, similar to the way the Energy Star program has created energy-saving awareness. So far, WaterSense has qualified products in two categories—toilets and bathroom faucets and faucet accessories. The products have started to appear on store shelves with more available online or by special order. In addition, the marketplace offers options, such as waterless urinals.
The KOHLER Persuade toilet, a high efficiency model that relies on a dual flush system to save water, is certified as part of EPA’s WaterSense program. Photo courtesy of Kohler Co.
EPA Press Officer Shakeba Carter-Jenkins says one product that won’t carry a WaterSense label is the kitchen sink faucet. The EPA decided not to develop a specification because reducing the flow rate may result in increased wait times, which might not be acceptable to users, which she says would be counter to WaterSense program goals of increasing efficiency while maintaining or improving performance.
Toilets The first category targeted by WaterSense was toilets, the greatest home water consumer. The thought of more “low-flow” toilets may, at first, turn away homeowners. Some early attempts before WaterSense performed poorly as they tried to achieve the federal law of not exceeding 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf). One of their problems was requiring repeat flushes to remove waste.
But WaterSense specifications require both high efficiency and high performance. With new technology and design modifications, more than 60 toilets have earned the WaterSense label. They were independently tested and certified to perform as well as or better than their market counterparts while using an average of 20 percent less water per flush than the industry standard of 1.6 gallons. For those homes still using old toilets with 3.5- and 5-gallon flushes, the savings percentages are even greater.
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