We have depended on water throughout our existence, and people have developed different ways of cultivating its use for bathing, cleaning, and drinking. Aqueducts date back thousands of years while the Romans advanced the use of indoor plumbing to impressive levels. Fortunately, it is relatively easy for us to access as much water as we need to take a drink on a hot day, clean the dishes after a family gathering and relax in the bathtub after a long day, and we know that a Houston residential plumber is a phone call away should we need their services. However, it is important to take note of just how much water we are using and reduce our consumption to ensure that our natural resources flourish and that the quality and quantity of our water remains high.
The average person uses 69 to 100 gallons of water for a variety of purposes every day, about 70 of which are used indoors. Of that amount, about 27 percent are used in toilets, 22 percent in washing machines, 19 percent in bathtubs and 16 percent in sinks in the kitchen and bathrooms. Unfortunately, 14 percent of indoor water use is never utilized as it is instead lost due to plumbing leaks. However, one of the easiest ways you can save water is to contact a Houston plumbing company and get a Houston plumber to check your plumbing system. This is especially important to do if you are losing heated water as the energy cost to heat the water is being wasted as well.
Fortunately, newer toilets, shower fixtures and the latest dishwashers are helping us save water without even needing to adjust our use. For example, if you are using an older toilet, you are likely using six gallons of water every time you flush. However, a modern toilet will utilize between 25 to 60 percent of that amount. A normal shower head uses about four gallons of water every minute when you are in the shower while some of the newer models release just two gallons per minute. If you enjoy taking baths, note that it takes about 36 gallons of water to fill a bathtub so showers are a better option to conserve water. Dishwashers take about six gallons of water per load; less is used with newer versions. Conversely, washing dishes by hand uses more than three times that amount.
There are also several other ways you can decrease the amount of water you use in an average day.
Make sure to turn your faucet off while shaving or brushing your teeth. If you need to wash your dishes by hand, plug the sink so that you can reuse the water. If you are using a dishwasher, do not pre-rinse your dishes and make sure it is completely full before you use it. Utilize the same method when doing the laundry: make sure to only do so when you have a full load ready to be cleaned.
Some people reuse water from a rainstorm. Imagine that an inch of rain has fallen onto your property, which sits on half an acre of land. In this scenario, your yard likely received nearly 15,000 gallons of water or enough to take about 5,000 showers. If you put one or more rain barrels or receptacles in places where they are able to receive water running off of your roof, you will be able to take advantage of the considerable amount of water that will collected. In fact, it is not unheard of to completely fill a 32-gallon container after an average rainstorm if it has been placed in the right spot.