Your toilet and water wasted
Your toilet is likely the greatest water user in your home. You can have an efficient laundry and dishwasher, but if you have an older toilet, you are wasting water. Toilets made before 1990 use as much as 5-8 gallons with every flush. Every decade, toilets have become more efficient.
A third of the water used per person daily is toilet flushing. Newer homes have high efficiency toilets, using about 1.3 gallons per flush. How much water does your toilet use?
The federal standard for toilet manufacturers today is 1.6 gallons per flush. Newer toilets are surprisingly affordable, around $100. Some cities in the West have taken to giving them away and encouraging local plumbers to install them for free in poorer districts. It has made a difference in the bottom-line water delivery for many cities. Ask your city manager.
If you just can’t afford to get a newer toilet, you can put a brick in the tank and flush less often. The old chant, “if it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down” still applies.
Kids and old people visit the toilet most often, we can all learn to conserve. Like putting a bucket in the shower to catch the cold water before you step in. That water can be added to the toilet tank in an old toilet and save a flush.
The water piped into your home comes from two aquifers which are closely monitored. Every year, since they began monitoring wells, these sources are declining.
Big decisions about alternative water sourcing are coming soon to Latah County.
The Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee is looking at proposals that will cost hundreds of millions. In the meantime, we can all recognize the value of this precious resource and work to conserve.
Zena Hartung
Moscow
