Water usage usually goes up for a household during the spring because of gardening—you’ll likely notice an uptick in your water bills for the first months of the season. However, if you’ve been dealing with higher water bills than normal, or you think your current bills could be lowered, you can take steps to save water.
Some of these tips are basic, common sense ones. Others will require you call a plumber in Irvine, CA for repairs, replacements, or new installations.
Schedule leak detection
If the water usage on those bills does seem far higher than you think you could possibly be using, this is a strong sign that your home may have a major hidden leak, such as a slab leak. Since it’s difficult to know for certain that you have these leaks until they’re flowing out from gaps in the walls or up through the floor, you’ll need to call a professional plumber for leak detection. We’ll use advanced tools to locate where there are leaks in your home and then have them repaired.
Upgrade to a low-flow toilet
The toilet uses the most water of any fixture inside a home. It can account for 40% of indoor water use. An older toilet uses much more water than new, low-flow fixtures. A standard toilet will use around 3 gallons per flush (and even older ones may use 5 to 6 gallons per flush). A low-flow toilet only uses 1.28 gallons per flush, less than half of a standard toilet. That makes a tremendous difference in water usage! You’ll see an immediate reduction in your water bills with this installation.
You may also want to look into a dual flush toilet, which has two strength of flushes: one for liquid waste and one for solid waste. Ask your plumber about which one is best suited to your home.
Install low-flow fixtures
The low-flow toilet is a great installation for saving money. But you can add onto this with low-flow showerheads and faucets. The shower-head is particularly helpful since the shower is another major source of indoor water use.
Only run the dishwasher with full loads
You might have heard that a dishwasher uses less water than washing dishes and utensils by hand. This is true, and the newest models of dishwashers are even more efficient at water use. However, you’ll end up wasting money if you run only small or half loads at a time. Let the dishes fill up the dishwasher racks before running a load. (And if the dishes aren’t exceptionally dirty, you can run the washing machine on “light” to help cut down further on water use.)
Shorter showers
Yes, you’ve heard this one before. But it bears repeating because people often let the idea go because—well, showers are relaxing. But each minute you can cut off your shower time will save 2½ gallons. If it helps, set a timer and see if you can keep shaving off time from your showers.
Saddleback Plumbing has proudly served Orange County since 1981. Talk to us to schedule repairs that will help you save water.