Getting Ready for Earth Day: Save Water When You Shower
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 3.07
[Ed. note:] This post continues our series of posts featuring easy, high-impact ideas and tips to help you get ready for Earth Day. Read the previous posts about saving water when you flush, greening your car and saving energy in your home and stay tuned for more!
The typical household in the developed world uses upwards of 260 gallons of water per day -- whoa! The good news is that by making a few quick changes, spending as little as $30 and replacing faucets and showers with low-flow fixtures can cut out about 45 of those gallons each day (that's about 18%); if you splurge on a low-flow toilet, you're down to almost half the water, saving lots of precious H2O but also saving you money on your water and electricity/gas bill (depending on how your water is heated). Here are a few specific ideas and products for saving some water (and some bucks) when you step into the shower.
1) Low-flow showerheads like Bricor's shiny showerhead and this model from Gaiam (they used to be Real Goods: here's an updated link to purchase one) with a pause button cut back the flow to 1 gallon per minute (GPM), which, depending on your current shower, could save you two to four gallons each minute you're in the shower.
2) The Aqua Helix takes it a step further, squeezing out just 1/2 GPM.
3) TreeHugger TV offers some advice for increased shower efficiency: bring a friend, and make good use of the Tiara showerhead. Two heads are better than one...
4) If you're worried that cutting down the flow too low will adversely affect the water pressure, the Neco showerhead offers some middle ground: it pumps out 1.9 GPM and uses a "patented vacuum flow technology" that renders a higher pressure than other low-flow showers, giving a spray sensation roughly equivalent to most 2.5 GPM showerheads.
5) A shower timer is a helpful way to remind yourself not to dawdle too long under your new low-flow showerhead.
Bonus tip: don't forget to crank down your water heater to 120 degrees F to save even more on heating your water. For more ideas and info about using less water as you get ready for Earth Day, check out How to Green Your Water.
How about getting wet, turning off your shower while you scrub and soap, and turning it back on when you want to rinse off? It makes your soap go further, too.
I managed to cut my water bill in half by placing a plastic bowl in mu bathroom sink. When the bowl fills up I empty it into the toilet tank. I have turned of the feed to the toilet and only fill it from the sink. There is no installation cost and so the payback period for the investment, .70 for the bowl, is about a week.
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What's ironic is that the picture has some high flow shower heads, those ones that have the large heads needs a lot of water.
Home Depot has some simple low flow 2.5gpm shower heads for under $5. They also have a shower head that that a switch to shut off flow like arerea suggested. The thing I found with the low flow is that it adds a lot of air to the water...to make it seem like there is more and give it pressure. That also cools down the water a lot. To get a decent temp I need to use hotter water. The water hitting my body is comfortable temp, the water right near the spout is quit hot. So while I may use less water, i use more hot water.
I do my "patented" 5 showers a week routine. This consists of a shower every day and a half rather than every day. So day 1, morning shower. Day 2, evening shower. Day 3, no shower. Day 4, morning shower. And so on. If you have a low exersize job like me, this works nicely and cuts back shower usage more than a 25% without having to go the ol' PTA route.
A super easy way to make your toilet, your friends, family, and office toilets lower-flow, is secretly drop a brick in the tank. This will displace about a liter of water per flush, and you cant really tell a difference.
And don't forget the most important golden rule:
If it's yellow, let it mellow.
Bricks can break up and cause major problems. Instead, try putting a couple of large rocks into a used peanut butter jar, sealing the jar and placing it in the tank. This reduces the volume of water wasted with each subsequent flush... Plus you can add a one-sentence explanatory note if you place the jar in a public place (ie office) so that if someone should discover it, they know what's going on.
In response to Henry's post about recycling used shower water for the toilet:
I have installed a water recycling system from http://www.wastewater-recycling.co.nz/
This sytem takes water from the washing machine and shower in 4 100 liter tanks while a small membrame pump will pump the cleaned water to the toilets in the house.
The water can also be used to water the garden.
The water savings claimed with this system is about 30%plus which also means the sceptic tank system doesn't need to work so hard.
in response to oteshite and TJ:
Easiest, Quickest, Safest and Simplest way is to take a ziplock plastic bag. Fill it with water and place it into the toilet tank.
No pollutants or weird rattling things in the toilet tank. Do make sure that whatever object you place in the tank can not block the outflow or inflow valve. Especially a brick leaves pieces of grid behind that can cause the outflow valve to leak thus wasting water instead of preserving it.
What Water shortage??? There is,on Earth,approx. 46,571,428,571 Gallons of water for each and every person iving here. What is your real agenda Are you ting kickbacks from the water saving device suppliers? Or is it just another example of our shoddy public education system??
Or is it just another example of our shoddy public education system??
Speaking of public education, shouldn't you be in class right now, kid?
Kickbacks are good! What better way is there to make a buck than to do it by protecting our water? Plus, there are ads for shower heads on the left column, by Google. You could have spent time buying a low flow 2.0 GPM shower head instead of typing us a comment. And you must know that salt water is not usable without lots of electricity to desalinate it. Spend more time doing and less time hating. The former will take care of the later.
The perfect compliment to a low flow showerhead is The Hot Water Lobster Instant Hot Water Valve! It's a revolutionary home water conservation product that will save water and get instant hot water to your shower! It saves a lot of water that's normally wasted down the drain while waiting for hot water. Just install the thermostatically adjustable recirculation valve under the sink farthest form your water heater and you will have instant hot water throughout your entire home. I,ve had one for 3 years now and I'm very impressed!
The Hot Water Lobster uses no electricity and works off of your existing plumbing! It’s also pump free, so it creates no noise. It's made in the U.S.A., has a 10-year warranty, and can be easily installed in under 10 to 15 minutes! It even has a money back guarantee! The savings in water and energy quickly recoups it's low $179.95 purchase price! You can't beat this product!
www.hotwaterlobster.com
I was thinking in spirit of earth day it might be a good idea to shower with a friend.
Would that help conserve water?
I was thinking in spirit of earth day it might be a good idea to shower with a friend.
Would that help conserve water?