National "Fix A Leak Week" March 14-18, 2011

Did you know that nationwide one trillion gallons of water are wasted because of running toilets, dripping faucets, and other leaks every year?  That the average American home annually pays for 10,000 gallons they did not need or benefit from, and water waste causes prices and even water use restrictions to go up?  That's why Watersense is promoting "Fix a Leak Week" to prompt homeowners to check their plumbing and irrigation systems for leaks.


The Environmental Protection Agency officially launched "Fix a Leak Week" last year in Phoenix, Arizona.  A translucent water tank was set up in the driveway of longtime residents Dennis & Debbie Jobin that showed how much water was lost with 2 old leaking toilets and a showerhead.  Two hundred gallons were wasted in one week!

Be "green" and maybe save some green by making the time to survey your house. Before going to bed (or work), check your water meter, then check it again in the morning (upon return) before any water is used, including irrigation, to make sure there have been no leaks.   If there seems to be, carefully inspect your home.  Check the bathtub/shower faucets, are they dripping?  When you examine your bathroom and kitchen faucet, look underneath to see if there is any evidence of a leak.   When the house is quiet, take the lid off each toilet, inspect the unit and listen.  Check the water lines to the clothes and dishwasher, water treatment appliances (heater, purifiers) and refrigerator as best you can.  In your yard, turn off your irrigation system and let the ground dry--are there any damp areas to indicate water seepage?  Could there be a crack in your pool or pool lines?  If you cannot find the leak, you'll have to call in a locator to check your hidden pipe system.

Here's a true story of a team of experts who couldn't figure out the problem!

I knew of a contractor who was called in by a frantic homeowner whose water bill had more than quadrupled in a month's time, although nothing had changed in their routine.   How could so much water be lost with no signs of a leak?   He had called every kind of expert.  They checked the water meter, it was accurate.  Every pipeline, faucet, and appliance was checked,  and there was no leak.  No one could figure the mystery, yet on some days his meter showed close to a hundred gallons were used when no one was home!   The stress took its toll, and he was home in bed, too sick to get up or go to work.  While he was laying there in his misery, he heard his downstairs toilet flush, and he was home alone!  Armed with his video camera, he crept downstairs to catch the water bandit, and he captured it on video!   It seems his house cat had learned how to flush the toilet, and there it was entertaining itself, flushing the toilet, then striking at the swirling water as if it was trying to catch something getting away, then flushed it again, over and over and over!  Mystery solved!

--Remember to be green in the community too!   In a public restroom one of the toilets was running because the trap could no longer make a seal.  I would estimate a gallon of water was being wasted every five minutes at the rate it was flowing!  I shut off the water valve and put up the seat, and put the lid of water tank on the seat's base to signal, do not use and tip off the maintenance crew of the problem since I didn't know how to find them.   If there is water flowing down your street, and it hasn't been raining, trace the water to the source.  Maybe someone forgot to turn off a water hose, and you can be a good neighbor and turn it off.  Water is a precious resource that we all depend upon!

Do your part.  Every drop counts!

Good News on Conserving Water from the International Green Building Conference

Part 2 of 5

WaterSense is the new Energy Star!

It would be more accurate to say: electricity is to Energy Star as water is to WaterSense (remember those statements from SATs and ACTs?)

Most people are aware that “Energy Star” rated appliances have met strict guidelines to be energy efficient. Now be on the lookout for the “WaterSense” conservation rating for toilets, shower and bath faucets, and irrigation systems. According to Kohler's research, WaterSense faucet can reduce water use by 30%, saving a typical family 11,800 gallons of water a year.

I had the opportunity to interview representatives from Delta and Moen at the International Green Building Conference (IGBC), and they told me that within a year, ALL of their bathroom faucets will be WaterSense certified. I had the opportunity to tour Delta's headquarters in Indianapolis in 2008, and I was very impressed with the company culture. They have what I call a drop-in synergy center for facilitate getting in the creative zone for design. They have developed Diamond Seal technology so faucets are built to last, which is also very green, keeping things out of the landfill!

There has been a great challenge for determine the rating guidelines for efficient showerheads—what good would it do to lower gallons per minute if it took twice as long to rinse out shampoo? Or if the aeration cools the water so much that you end up using more hot water? If you have a bath shower combination, a good way to test your shower head is if the water running out of the tub spigot feels to be the right temperature, and when you channel the water to the shower and you have to turn up the hot water, the aeration is significantly cooling the water. Delta has solved this by developing a technology to make the water droplets larger, so they retain their temperature, and you still get a drenched feeling with the lower gallons per minute flow. Moen put a toggle switch in their rain shower, so the user can get a concentrated stream to rinse out shampoo. Their showerhead has a spoke design with stream channels so there is better coverage over the body. A WaterSense showerhead will save a typical family an equivalent of 385 bottles of water in a week! Kohler was also present in the exhibit hall, and have earned the recognition of being WaterSense Manufacturing Partner of the Year for 2008 and 2009.

Do you use a water softener? It typically uses salt, electricity, and a lot of water to backwash—typically 120-150 gallons a week to take out the minerals of calcium and magnesium to avoid scaling and deposits. Because of the significant waste of water, and that it dumps a lot of sodium into the water system, California is banning salt-based water softeners. How can one protect pipes, hardware, appliances, and surfaces from hard water damage? You can get a water conditioner that does not use electricity or salt. One type of water conditioner uses magnets to change the surface structure so they do not deposit, and can help descale buildup. I learned this interviewing a representative of Superior Water Conditioners at IGBC. A salt free water conditioner uses nanotechnology filtering to change the ion structure so the minerals will not cling to surfaces, but will not descale deposits. Know that one will not get that slick feel that salt “softened” water gives.

Product offerings are always changing. Ask your remodeling professional what products they’ve researched and recommend that are eco-friendly or "green." You can see a list of some companies we use and are very happy with their product and customer service here (at the bottom of the page).