Whether you’re looking to conserve water usage to help the environment or lower your water bill, we’re here to guide you there. At Green Planet Plumbing & Sewer, our goal has always been to help people enhance the eco-friendliness of their homes.

According to EPA, the average American family uses more than 300 gallons of water each day, but you can greatly reduce that number by following these easy water-saving tips.

Shut off faucets

Start making it a habit to turn off the faucet when you’re brushing your teeth, shaving, lathering your hands with soap, or rinsing dishes. With the average faucet, water comes out at a rate of 2.5 gallons per minute, which means you’re letting go of a lot of perfectly good water! Breaking this bad habit can make a huge difference and save you 200 gallons of water each month.

Install low-flow fixtures

As you can imagine, the bathroom is the largest consumer of indoor water, and the toilet alone can use 27% of it, followed closely by the shower. It’s time to make some eco-friendly choices in the bathroom— we’re talking about upgrading to low-flow toilets and showerheads.

In the United States, for a toilet to be considered “low-flow,” it must consume no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, compared to standard toilets that can use up to 7 gallons per flush. If you’re worried about the toilet not being able to perform, consider dual-flush toilets that come with an option for liquid waste and solid waste. Standard showerheads flow at a rate of 2.5 gallons per minute (GPM) at 80 PSI, while in comparison, a low-flow showerhead uses 2.0 GPM or less. While it uses less water, you don’t need to worry about sacrificing water pressure since low-flow versions add air to the water. The best part? Most cost less than $20!

Leak-proof your home

Don’t procrastinate— fix leaks quickly! It’s easy to ignore this problem because it seems minor, but did you know that is one drip per second wastes 1,661 gallons of water a year? We also recommend checking for leaks by paying close attention to your monthly water bill. Sudden or unusual spikes could indicate that there’s a leak hiding somewhere, in which case a plumber should be contacted for leak detection.

Take shorter showers

The average American showers for 8 minutes, which typically uses 17 gallons of water. Trying lowering that time to 5 to 7 minutes long. It may seem impossible, but here are some helpful tips to save water when you’re showering:

• If you have to wait for the water to heat up, bring a large bowl or bucket in the shower to catch that normally discarded water. You can use it later for your lawn or plants. You may also want to consider a recirculation system that can eliminate the wait for hot water.

• Listen to a 5-minute song or set a timer and challenge yourself to take a short shower.

• Try the “navy shower” method: First, you turn the water to rinse your body and hair; second, turn off the water while you shampoo your hair and wash your body with soap; lastly, turn on the water to rinse off all the product.

Find an eco-friendly plumber

At Green Planet Plumbing & Sewer, we offer eco-friendly plumbing services to help you reduce water usage and lower your home utility costs. Our eco-friendly solutions include:

• Tankless water heaters

• Recirculation systems

• Pressure regulators

• Low-flush toilets and other water-and-energy-conserving appliances and fixtures

• Rain water harvesting

Get in touch with us at (206) 207-7625 for all your plumbing needs.