Water Conservation - Save More Than Just Water
Posted by Paige
Water Bill Got You Down? Do something about it!
It feels like every bill I get in the mail, my rates are rising. Gas prices are rising, water rates are rising, electricity just has a huge increase. Well don’t sit on your hands–do something!
Did you know that making a few inexpensive changes in your home, can make a huge difference in your monthly water bill? I’m sure you’ve heard it before and thought you should do something, but seriously, why wait any longer? At the Blue Ridge Eco Shop there are multiple inexpensive ($10 and under) aerators, shower heads and toilet dams that can start saving water and your pocket book right now.
Typical shower heads and faucets use anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 gallons of water per minute. Water conserving fixtures can decrease that flow rate, without you even noticing a difference in water pressure and save you money. Changing one shower head to a 1.5 gallon per minute shower head will save you up to $350/year. Retro-fitting your toilet to be more efficient can save up to 2 gallons per flush or 30,000 gallons per year.
Don’t believe me? One Blue Ridge Eco Shop customer did the math herself and tested out switching all of her water fixtures in the house. Overall she spent around $30 at the Shop buying toilet dams, faucet aerators and shower heads. For the next month she tracked her water bill and usage. She saved $50 that first month on her water bill. That means, the $30 she spent will save her about $600 annually. I’m sure we can all think of more efficient ways to spend $600 than sending it down the drain.
Have a well? I hear this one a lot. Just because you don’t use municipal water, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t conserve water. Only five years ago, there was a long summer drought and many County residences’ wells went dry. Water is a precious resource and should be conserved whether or not it is freely flowing from our faucets. Working in the Peace Corps I realized first hand how much I took water for granted. Not having clean drinking water and not having bathing and flushing water once a week at times was an adjustment.
Already have low-flow appliances? There are many other water saving practices we can utilize to cut down on our water usage:
- Rain Water Harvesting - I am happy to see so many Charlotteville residents using rain barrels to catch the rain water off of their roofs. Using this water on your lawn and garden saves you $$ on your water bill and is healthier for your lawn (untreated water).
- Take shorter showers - shaving 30 seconds off of you shower cans save tons over the year.
- If 10,000 residents shorten their showers by just 30 seconds, in a year we’ll save enough water to fill up to 22 Olympic-size swimming pools. (IdealBite.com)
- Turn off the faucet when soaping up at the sink and in the shower.
- Make sure to have full loads in the washer and dishwasher.
- If hand washing dishes, save up a stack, fill the sink and wash, rather than having the faucet running while washing each plate.
Add on what you do at your house to save water. So far my favorite has been: Collecting shower water to water flowers!
I was looking for the price of the rain barrels you have in your store.
Thank you for your reply.
Nancy
Our rain barrels hold 65 gallons and run $165.
We LOVE the rain barrel we recently bought from your store. Thanks for offering a quality product and the real bonus its made of recycled plastic!
Keep up the great work.