DIY Saturday #67 – How Technology Can Help Save Water at Home (Video)

Guest Blog #173, Entry #651, September 10, 2011

Happy DIY Saturday! From water conservation to spending less money to run water in your home, saving water is essential. Today, see how saving water can be made easier by installing technological plumbing fixtures in your home. From low flow toilets and shower heads to Energy standard appliances, these tips will help get your home saving water and money.

You Tube video – How to Install a Low Flow Showerhead

Guest Blogger – How technology can help save water at home

70.8% of the world’s surface is covered in water, a fact that is wheeled out whenever we’re trying to put some context into our place in the planet. The volume of water on our world is apparently there to humble us in realization of how small human coverage of the earth is, to demonstrate how unique the earth is in its ability to sustain life, and even to make us aware of the great dangers of global warming and increasingly erratic weather patterns.

But it’s a figure that can be quite damaging to the ecological agenda. Similar to how colder winters are making people question the notion of ‘global warming’ by simple word association, the fact that there is so much water on the earth is a thorn in the side of water conservation. There’s so much water out there, why do we need to be careful about wasting it?

Save water and help your wallet!

A Quick Why and How

Of course, thinking about it for a bit will give you an obvious answer, and suggest a trite old saying. Water is everywhere, but the drinkable stuff is in the minority. Depending on where we are in the world, the amount of rain falling from the sky is somewhere between inadequate to not quite adequate when it comes to providing an urban population with the water they need to live.

Clearly, this makes water conservation imperative in areas with low rainfall (deserts and polar regions). But the fact that rainfall is undependable in all areas and that it never completely covers demand means that everyone should practice water conservation. This is because conserving water is actually more an issue of conserving energy. Water may appear free but purification, storage and transportation require that electricity is involved. The more water we all use, the more electricity we must use. Oh, and if you’re not convinced, remember there’s money involved on metered water supplies!

Change your water usage habits at home first

So what can you do? There are many ways in which you can change your habits to conserve water, but they have quite similar underlying principles. If you want to use less water, leave your taps running less: run bowls to do your washing up, don’t leave your taps running when brushing your teeth. But some things you can do are down to the appliances you use. So choosing the right fixtures and fittings can help you save water, energy, the environment and your bank balance.

Low-Flow Toilets

Such is the demand for low-flow toilets, it’s actually quite difficult to buy one without the widely hailed dual-flush technology. Lever flush toilets have seemingly had their day as people have accepted that a single flush is excessive for every bathroom visit. If you still have an old model around, perhaps it’s time to replace it?

Low Flow Shower Heads

Water wastage seems to be a natural consequence of operating a shower. But there are still options for using less water when you shower. Euroshowers do a ‘Shutoff Shower Head’ with an easily pressed switch to stop the water flowing whilst you lather up. Other manufacturers offer flow selection so that you can reduce the flow to when you only need a light sprinkling!

Change out your showerheads to low flow models

Hands Free Faucets

Hands free faucets have been in businesses and service stations for years, and now they’re finding a place within the home. Often designed to be stylish and to coordinate with the sleek, seamless modern basin, they’re the ultimate hygienic solution and, of course, you’ll be using a lot less water thanks to their automatic start and cut off.

Label Appliances

Energy standards vary from country to country, and there are several labels worth looking out for. In the EU, energy labels are awarded from A to G. UK appliances also have Energy Saving Trust ‘recommended’ stickers and are only given to select appliances. Energy Star is the US equivalent. It is imperative to find washing machines, dishwashers and other water using devices that use little energy, since over time the money you save on purchasing an inefficient model will be outstripped by the money you spend running it.

Steph Wood is a blogger who writes regularly for Splash Direct, a UK-based Bathroom Furniture company.

For more water saving ideas for your home on Stagetecture, click here.