Living so close to Lake Erie, it’s hard to believe that even though approximately 70 percent of our planet is covered by water, only about 1 percent is actually available for our use. The federal EPA’s WaterSense program encourages us to become more efficient with our water use now, not after the lack of water becomes a crisis.
The WaterSense program helps homeowners and consumers make prudent water choices that will enable them to b
oth save money and maintain high environmental standards without sacrificing performance. Products and services that qualify for the WaterSense label will be at least 20 percent more efficient than non-qualifyng products but with no loss of performance.
How much water do you use? A simple calculator provided by the EPA’s WaterSense program helps figure out the amount of water you could save if you upgraded to more energy-efficient WaterSense-labeled products. Since the program began in 2006, consumers have saved approximately 287 billion gallons of water and more than $4.7 billion in water and energy bills with WaterSense approved products.
Save water, save money. According to the EPA, most American homes spend over $700 per year on water and sewer. If people would make a few simple changes and use water more conscientiously, we could each save about $200 annually.
Water efficiency and the environment. Less water going down the drain means more water in the lakes, rivers and streams. Using our water more conscientiously would mean safe water levels, which would help keep us and the environment healthy.
Be the change. American homes each waste about 10,000 gallons of water each year from running toilets, drippy faucets and allowing other leaks. It is believed that more than a trillion gallons of water leak from our houses annually.
Water- and energy-saving ideas include:
- Use a low-flow shower head and take shorter showers.
- Don’t run your dishwasher until you have a full load; don’t use the special cycles.
For more information about the EPA’s’ WaterSense program, please contact us at Geisel Heating, Air Conditioning and Plumbing – serving the Lorain County and Cleveland areas for more than 77 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Western Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about EPA’s’ WaterSense program and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
For those Do it Yourselfers who would rather take control of your own indoor comfort, you can shop our online store for replacement parts, products and accessories!
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One Response to “The EPA’s WaterSense Program: It Makes Sense, Even When You’re Next Door To A Lake”
Mark Preston
The EPA has some wonderful ideas. They also seem to have some crackpot ideas, too.
The City of San Francisco, is/was an early adopter of the EPA’s WaterSense toilets. The City financed the installation of about 16,000 of these devices. They don’t have sufficient flow of water through the sewer system to flush the waste. There are approximately 300,000 residences in San Francisco. Now, (no pun intended) there is a stink in San Francisco.
Saving water is a great idea. Ruining one’s home and environment isn’t.
I don’t own stock in a business related to water, plumbing fixtures, construction, architecture … I’m trying to say I don’t have a financial interest in what I write about at:
http://high-efficiency-toilet.blogspot.com/
There I have tried to chronicle the development of how these low water use toilets came into existence and the consequences of violating the laws of physics, because politicians think that’s a wise idea.
I’m not looking for a link into your website, I’m not looking to get my name mentioned or the URL I have above. But I do hope you consider what the government is doing and report on it constructively.