Bragg Plumbing has recently been accredited by “Green Plumbers USA” for successfully completing it’s “Caring for our Water” and “Water Efficient Technology” training programs. These programs are designed to train the plumbing contractor in the latest water saving technologies and to promote their use in the residential marketplace. Homeowners today have a wide array of new solutions to help conserve or reuse water that would otherwise just go down the drain. The average family of four uses about 150,000 gallons of water each year and our per capita consumption has doubled since 1950. The good news is that with minimal effort we can substantially reduce our water footprint.

Here are some helpful water saving tips courtesy of “Green Plumbers USA and Bragg Plumbing.

Outdoors:

1. Watch that sprinkler. A forgotten sprinkler can waste over 264 gallons of water per hour.
2. Don’t cut lawn shorter than 2cm or better yet replace that lawn with water conserving plants or landscape.
3. Water during the cool of the early morning or after dusk. Up to 40% of water will evaporate if you water during the day.
4. If rain is in the forecast, turn off your sprinkler system and let the rain do your watering for you.
5. When watering, target the root zone around the base of the plant. Water less frequently (about every 203 days) but more thoroughly.
6. Sweep pathways and driveways around your house with a broom rather than a hose.
7. It’s best to wash your car at a commercial car wash that recycles it’s water.

Indoors:

1. Wash fruit and veggies in a sink that is half full. A running tap uses 4-6 gallons per minute.
2. Only run your dishwasher when it is full and don’t rinse dishes before loading into dishwasher.
3. When buying a dishwasher or wash machine, choose a water-efficient model. They use up to 44% less water than traditional models.
4. Fix a dripping tap. A small drip can waste 420 gallons per month.
5. Wash only full loads when doing laundry and use the economy setting. Adjust the water level to suit the size of the load.
6. If you haven’t already, install a dual-flush toilet. For a family of four, this alone can save a whopping 10,000 gallons of water a year.
7. Get those leaking toilets fixed. Leaking toilets can waste up to 4,100 gallons per year.
8. Take a power shower. Older style shower heads use up to 6 gallons of water per minute. Newer shower heads can save 30% of shower water. Reducing your shower time from 7 minutes to 4 minutes could save over 6,500 gallons of water per person per year.
9. Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth or you’ll waste 1,000 gallons of water a year per person. Instead use a glass of water to rinse your mouth when brushing. Same applies when shaving and save 900 gallons of water per year.

New Water Saving Solutions:

1. Do you wait for hot water every morning? That water is just going down the drain wasting precious water, time and money. Have a licensed plumber install a recirculation pump and get hot water in seconds.
2. Rainwater harvesting. There are many practical, effective and functional ways to capture, store and reuse rainwater. These systems typically capture the runoff from your homes roof and store the water in a cistern for later reuse in your homes garden or landscaping. These systems can run from the simple to the very complex.
3. Gray-water recycling. These systems capture and reuse the water from your shower, bath and laundry. Currently greywater can only be used for below surface watering of non-consumed vegetation and foliage. Coincidentally, greywater is actually good for your plants. The phosphates used in soap act as a fertilizer and stimulate plant growth. These same phosphates however are bad when they run into our eco-system which promote algae growth and rob our lakes and streams of life giving oxygen.