In typical situations, more water is wasted in the bathroom than anywhere else. On a daily basis, people take long showers. They allow faucets to drip or run too long. They ignore leaky toilets. If homeowners and renters changed just a few daily bathroom habits, they could conserve water while saving money.
If you notice plumbing issues that require the skills of a specialist, Plumbing by Jake is here to help. Our team has decades of experience. When you know your water bill is too much and you are looking for solutions, we are available 24/7 to correct the issue.
If plumbing issues have interrupted your day and you want to get back to taking that long hot shower in peace, simply give us a call. A member of our friendly team will be there in no time to fix the situation.
How Many Gallons of Water an Average Shower Uses
Many treat a shower as a sacred place—a place to get clean or to cool off. A shower can be a wake-up call or a time of relaxation. A shower is also a place where a lot of water goes down the drain.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the typical shower head sprays about 2.5 gallons per minute. If you take a shower that lasts 20 minutes, about 50 gallons of water are used. Some high-powered shower heads can use between 20-35 gallons of water for a five-minute shower. A nice hot bath needs even more water, usually using about 60 gallons of water.
Showering accounts for 17% of the water used in residential homes. In the United States, an average family of four uses more than 260 gallons of water every day, and more than 40 gallons of that total is used for showers. Annually, Americans use more than a trillion gallons of water just to shower.
Wasted Water Keeps Dripping Down the Drain
A leaky faucet, dripping at a rate of one drop per second, can waste 165 gallons of water a month. That is more than double one person’s weekly water usage. If a bathroom sink faucet is left running for two minutes, three to five gallons of water can be lost down the drain.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) reports that even households with slow drips from leaky faucets can result in more than 100 gallons of unused water per year. A slow drip from a leaky shower head can cause the loss of more than 500 unused gallons of water down the drain.
Avoiding Money Going Down the Drain
One way to save water is to reduce shower time. Limiting shower time, even shaving a few minutes, can save more than 3,500 gallons of water per year. That is more than 14,000 gallons of water saved by a family of four yearly.
Upgrading to a low-flow showerhead and staying away from dual shower heads can add to the water saving. Modern low-flow showerheads usually have high-performance options for when you need extra pressure.
Keep Up with Regular Maintenance
Gaskets and washers get worn and brittle over time. Having a skilled plumber check your water system for leaks and replace any dilapidated hardware can save you from thousands of gallons of water being wasted. Replacing old faucets and showerheads with water-efficient fixtures can also help save money.
Water usage can be cut by 30% if you use water-efficient fixtures. Retrofitting your bathrooms with water-saving showerheads, faucets, and toilets can save substantial amounts of water while saving money on your utility bills. In some areas, rebates and vouchers are offered by utilities that also add to the savings.
Installing an on-demand hot water system or water heaters with recirculating pumps can also save time and money by avoiding the need to run water until it heats up before a shower.
Other Ways to Conserve Water
It actually takes less hot water to use an automatic dishwasher than it does to wash dishes by hand. Each load washed in a dishwasher saves an average of six gallons, more than 2,000 gallons per year.
Aerators combine air with the water flow to reduce water usage. These gadgets have wire screens and are easy to install by screwing into the faucet. Aerators can conserve water flow by more than 30%.
Toilets can be a major source of wasted water, no pun intended. To avoid a multitude of problems and avoid damaging pipes, do not flush trash. This includes cotton swabs, hair, and paper trash. Installing a dual-flush toilet can help save water by choosing a low-flow option for liquid waste and a normal-flow option for solid waste. If a toilet leak is detected, it should be repaired as soon as possible to stop water leaking from the tank to the bowl.
Conserving Water Conserves Money
If a family proactively switches older fixtures with water-saving ones and actively tries to conserve their water usage, they could save more than 2,500 gallons per year. If every American family decided to make this move, it could save more than 260 billion gallons of water annually.
Saving water usage ultimately saves energy by reducing the demands put on water heaters. In a year, a family shaves more than 330 kilowatt hours of electricity. That is roughly enough to power a house for 11 days. All of these actions would result in families saving money. If every home in the nation decided to install water-saving fixtures, almost a $3 billion cut be saved in utility bills.
Let Plumbing by Jake Handle Your Plumbing Needs
Plumbing repairs can be a complicated job, and it can be really messy if you do not know what you are doing or if you are uncomfortable trying to handle an issue by yourself. It does not matter if the plumbing issue is serious or regular maintenance.
Plumbing by Jake is here 24/7 to fix your emergency or maintain your plumbing so the water continues to move. We are proud to guarantee 100% satisfaction with all the repairs, services, and parts we provide. Whatever your plumbing needs, give us a call, or fill out the contact form on our website to schedule an appointment.
