Saving Water in the Home

[Music] of the nearly 10 billion gallons of water used each day in Pennsylvania nearly 20 percent is used in homes that equates to about 70 gallons per day for every person in the state the largest uses of water are typically toilets and clothes washers use of water outdoors in Pennsylvania is small compared to many Western States because of our more abundant rainfall so how do you think your home water use compares to these averages there are a couple of ways to find out if you're connected to a public water supply you likely have a water meter that you can read at the beginning and end of the month to determine your household water use if you don't have a water meter or if you want to estimate which areas of your home are using the most water Penn State Cooperative Extension has a fact sheet available on the Water Resources extension website or from your local Cooperative Extension Office that allows you to calculate how much water and Associated energy you're using in your home during drought you often hear on the news about changes in water use habits you can use to immediately reduce your water use examples of this include shutting off the water when you're brushing your teeth or taking shorter showers these changes in water use habits provide immediate water savings at no cost but we often revert back to our old water use habits when the drought ends so let's focus on devices and appliances that can save water for you without any thought or effort toilets are the largest user of water in most homes accounting for about 25 percent of total household water use toilets installed before 1994 used four gallons or more of water per flush since about 1994 new toilets are required to be 1.6 gallons per flush or less installation of low flush toilets can save over four thousand gallons of water clothes washers account for about 20 percent of the water used in the home conventional top loading clothes washers use about 40 to 50 gallons of water per load you can reduce your water use by 40 percent or more by switching to a front loading washer front loaders also use less detergent and provide cleaner clothes from the tumbling action the rapid spin cycle of front loaders also dries the clothes resulting in less time and energy needed from your dryer a switch to a front loading washer can save over three thousand gallons of showers account for about 18 percent of the water used in the home shower heads installed before 1994 typically deliver three to eight gallons of water per minute but low flow models are now available that use 2.5 gallons per minute or less low flow shower heads accomplished conservation by restricting the diameter of the hole that the water passes through low flow shower heads are inexpensive and easy to install on existing showers replacing conventional three gallon per minute shower heads with low volume 2 gallon per minute models will save several thousand gallons of water per when the water flow from all Faucets in the house is totaled the sum constitutes about 15 percent of the total household water use most older faucets deliver three to seven gallons of water per minute but the 1992 energy Policy Act requires faucets to be less than 2.5 gallons per minute retrofitting faucets to reduce water flow is even easier than shower heads the simplest is to install flow control aerators that use 0.5 to 1 gallon per minute of water saving faucets or simple aerators can save over 2 000 gallons of water per dishwashers are becoming more common and they account for about one percent of the water used in the home standard dishwashers can use as much as 14 and a half gallons of water per load but water saving models typically use seven or even as little as 4.5 gallons per load the resulting water savings can be several hundred gallons of water each year regardless of the type of dishwasher you use it's important that you wash only full loads to conserve water and energy leaks are estimated to account for about 13 percent of all the water used in a many leaks such as a dripping faucet or shower are easily spotted and simple to fix with new rubber washers [Music] but the larger and more difficult leaks to spot often occur in toilets it is estimated that approximately 25 percent of all home toilets leak leaking toilets can be diagnosed by listening for sounds of running water or by using a test where dye is placed in the toilet tank and observed to see if it appears in the toilet bowl repair kits to fix a leaking toilet are inexpensive and easy to use we've Illustrated a variety of water conservation strategies that can be used inside the home we'll focus on outdoor water use and Savings in another video fully integrating these devices and appliances into your home will likely result in a water Savings of over 30 percent or more annually the sum of nearly 11 000 gallons of water saved for each person in your home this water savings will save you money on your water bill and also on your energy bill as we will see in another video [Music]