water saving tips

Trade in your toilet
Sit down on some great water savings by opting for a high-efficiency toilet (HET). According to the EPA, toilet flushing accounts for about 30 percent of all indoor residential water use, requiring more water than any other activity in our homes.

But the right toilet can change those statistics for the better. In response to rising water demand and looming water shortages, the EPA developed WaterSense, a program that makes it easy for consumers to quickly identify water-efficient products. Toilets that carry the WaterSense label are third-party certified to be at least 20 percent more efficient than today’s standard toilets, which reduce flow per flush from an average 1.6 gallons to 1.28 (but toilets installed in your home before 1994 still use 3.5 gallons or more per flush). Visit the program’s Web site to find qualifying products plus a list of participating retailers like Vidavici.com, offering one of the widest selections of WaterSense–rated toilets available on the Internet.

You can save even more money by taking advantage of rebates for water-efficient toilets that are sponsored by local city governments throughout North America. For example, residents of Albuquerque, N.M., can receive a $125 rebate when replacing a standard toilet model with a water-efficient model. In Sioux Falls, S.D., residents are eligible for a $75 rebate when making the switch. Visit Toiletrebate.com to see what incentives may be available to you.


www.vivavi.com
The AQUS system saves fresh water by reusing wastewater.
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But why send perfectly clean drinking water down the toilet? An AQUS System reuses the water from your bathroom sink for all of your flushing needs. Developed by Water Saver Technologies, the AQUS is a small, simple system that uses a 5 1/2–gallon container inside your sink’s vanity (or behind the wall or underneath the floorboards) to capture and filter water as it comes down the sink’s drain. The water is run from the container to your toilet’s tank with a small tube. Install the AQUS, and you’ll be a hero of the planet though you’ll barely notice that the device is there. Two people sharing an AQUS-equipped bathroom are estimated to save about 14 gallons of water per day, or 5,000 gallons over the course of a year. The system is available for $295 plus installation. Depending upon your local water and sewage rates, Water Saver Technologies estimates that it usually pays for itself within four to five years. You can find a distributor at Watersavertech.com. There is another toilet type that allows you to push one handle if there is only liquid waste, an another for solid waste, saving 40% on your water bill.

CONTINUED : A new way to water your plants, plus more