People who wish to buy a new home tend to look for properties with open floor plans, new roofs and modern windows. This is by no means a bad thing. However, over recent years, home buyers have started to add some new things to their list of wants. With the increase in utility bills, properties with water efficient plumbing are in more demand.
How Much Water Can Be Saved?
The US EPA reports that, if every American household used water efficient appliances and fixtures, over eighteen billion dollars and three trillion water gallons would be saved nationwide, on a yearly basis. The majority of properties have fixtures dating back to the twentieth century, and pipes the same age as their foundations. Therefore, this leaves much scope for improvement. Water efficient fixtures have been available for sale for a while. Nowadays, many of these fixtures can conserve water, without sacrificing performance.
If you intend to sell your property within the next half decade, there are numerous ways of enhancing its’ plumbing features. Water efficient toilets perform the same task using less water. If your toilet was manufactured after 1994 and is a 1.6 GPF model, you can increase its’ water efficiency by placing a small, capped bottle of water into the tank. California has introduced new legislation, which requires all toilets installed or sold in the state, post 2014, to be water efficient. Inevitably, federal laws will be amended to mirror this ruling fairly soon.
Tankless Water Heaters
Tankless water heaters use less energy and provide unlimited warm water. Also, you can reduce your shower water consumption by up to seventy percent, by changing to a specially designed low flow shower-head. Thankfully, this is a simple task.
Water Efficient Faucets
Efficiency faucets lower water wastage significantly. If your faucets are inefficient (i.e. use in excess of 2.5 GPM), you should substitute them for more efficient faucets with a flow rate below 1.5 GPM. Alternatively, hire a plumber to install a flow restrictor or water conserving aerator to your current faucets. This is an affordable modification. Various cities and utility firms provide rebates and other rewards for purchasing water efficient fixtures.
By saving water, you also save energy. Of course, energy is needed to heat, deliver and treat water. If just one percent of American households had water efficient fixtures installed, it would save roughly 100,000,000 kWh of electricity each year. This would prevent 80,000 tons of environmentally harmful gas emissions — which equates to removing almost 15,000 cars from the roads for twelve months.
For a reputable plumber in your area, Robinson Plumbing can assist you with any plumbing questions that you might have as well as address any of your plumbing needs. Robinson Plumbing is a local, family owned company that is known for trusted, quality service. Call us today at (610) 351-9889 or contact us for any questions that you might have on your plumbing needs!