There’s room in almost any household for effective ways to reduce water bills. On average each Canadian citizen consumes about 340 litres per person every day. That’s about twice the per capita water consumption of industrialized countries in Europe.
With all that potential for improvement, reductions in water usage can be relatively painless, with little sacrifice of convenience or quality of life. Here are seven ways to aid conservation of this increasingly scarce resource, as well as reduce water bills and conserve your budget.
- Install low-flow shower heads. Replacing your standard shower head with a low-flow model that uses about 9 litres of water per minute could save a family of three 26,000 litres of hot water per year.
- Use your dishwasher. Today’s efficient dishwashers use less water to wash a load of dishes than hand washing in the sink.
- Run full loads in the washing machine. A single wash at the “full” setting consumes less water than multiple washes at the half- or quarter-load setting.
- Find leaks and get them fixed. One slow-dripping faucet can waste 1,000 gallons in a year. Pinholes in supply pipes in unseen areas are another source of waste. Have a qualified plumber check your water meter indicator for subtle leakage and trace leaks back to their source.
- Consider a high efficiency toilet. Toilet flushing is the single biggest water consumer in the house. Toilet use isn’t optional, but water waste is. High efficiency toilets consume only 4.8 litres of water per flush or less versus a standard toilet’s average of 18 litres.
- Water after sunset or early in the morning. Up to 50 percent of landscape watering is lost due to evaporation from sunlight and heat. Also, use a soaker hose or other device to reduce runoff.
- Wash your car at the car wash. Most people incur more water expense washing with a garden hose and nozzle at home than the price of a car wash. The high pressure wands do a better and quicker job, too.
Ask the plumbing professionals at Arpi’s Industries about more ways to reduce water bills in your Calgary home.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Calgary, Alberta about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Sebastian Kaulitzki/Shutterstock”
