Room by Room: 9 Ways to Save Energy and Water in the Bathroom
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(Photo: Flickr)
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With serious drought conditions affecting California, saving water has become extremely important. And since 19% of California’s electricity goes to pumping water, when you save water, you save energy too. Here are some easy tips for saving in your bathroom.
1. Repair leaks:
On average, leaks account for 13% of home water usage.
2. Ventilate properly:
When you shower or take a bath, use the bathroom fan to remove the heat and humidity from your home. This will help keep your A/C from working overtime. ENERGY STAR qualified fans are available.
3. Seal around pipes:
Space around plumbing pipes can be a common source of air leakage. Make sure yours are covered and sealed around the edges.
4. Opt for Brief Showers over Baths:
A ten minute shower can use less water than a full bath.
5. Low-Flow Showerheads:
These can save 44% over non-conserving showerheads. Here’s how to test your existing showerhead to see if it’s a water-guzzler:
- Place a bucket—marked in gallon increments—under your shower head.
- Turn on the shower at the normal water pressure you use.
- Time how many seconds it takes to fill the bucket to the 1-gallon (3.8 liter) mark.
- If it takes less than 20 seconds to reach the 1-gallon mark, you could benefit from a low-flow showerhead.
Also, remember not to fall victim to the Snackwell effect – don’t take longer showers just because you have a more efficient system.
6. Faucets/Faucet Attachments:
Faucet aerators can also save water, and only cost a few dollars. Try this cost calculator for faucets and low-flow toilets.
7. Turn off the water while you brush your teeth:
This can save up to 3,000 gallons of water per year.
8. Low-flush toilet:
Depending on your current model, switching to an ultra-low-flush toilet could help you save thousands of gallons per year. Also, keep an eye out for dual flush models to help you save even more.
9. WaterSense products:
WaterSense is similar to the government’s ENERGY STAR program, except it covers water instead of energy. Look for the WaterSense label when buying faucets, faucet aerators, and toilets.
Posted by Megan Toth on 06/30/09. Email story
Story link | Filed under: Residential, Water Efficiency
California Launches “Save Our Water” Program
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(Image: CA DWR)
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The California Department of Water Resources and The Association of California Water Agencies have just launched a new “Save Our Water” program to conserve water during this 3rd year of drought. This comes on the heels of the Governor’s declaration of statewide emergency because of the severe water shortages.
The Governor called on all Californians to reduce water use by 20% and the Save Our Water program will provide resources and education to help residents conserve. The program’s website www.saveourh2o.org has extensive information on easy ways to cut water use and help your household put together a plan to cut 20 gallons a day for 20 days.
A few of the tips for cutting water use include: taking shorter showers, turning off the water when brushing teeth, watering the lawn only when necessary and running only full loads in the dishwasher and clothes washer.
Saving water is essential to protecting California, but did you know it also saves energy? As much as 19% of California’s energy use goes to pumping, moving and treating water. This figure is disproportionately high in Southern California, home of the Southern California Project’s (SWP) 1,926-foot water lift over the Tehachapi Mountains, the highest lift in the world. As a result the SWP is the largest electricity user in the state. This exemplifies the connection between saving energy and saving water.
It’s time for all residents to do their part this summer by using less water and helping to preserve California’s most precious resource.
Posted by Andrew Galbraith on 05/01/09. Email story
Story link | Filed under: Water Efficiency
Water Crisis: Slow Reactions Delay Viable Solutions
The Crisis: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently declared a state of emergency around California’s current drought. His declaration asks all urban residents to curtail water use by 20%, increases conservation efforts and allows the state to seek more federal funding for water projects and the transfer of water to areas facing shortages. According to California’s farm bureau, about 43% of water taken from lakes and reservoirs is used for farming. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said on February 20 it must cut its water allocation to farmers in California’s Central Valley for the first time in 15 years because of low reservoirs.
Slow to React: According to a recent report from Ceres (PDF, 1.1 MB), not enough businesses and investors are considering the potential for economic upheaval if water resources become as scarce as predicted. Decreasing availability, declining water quality and growing water demand are straining resources and profits. Manufacturing and agriculture sectors can expect decreased water allotments, shifts towards full-cost water pricing and increasingly severe water quality regulations, according to Ceres. Climate change and a world population predicted to grow by 50 million people annually will aggravate the problem.
Solutions
The Savings: According to a report we highlighted in May of 2008, using recycled water could save enough energy to power 150,000 California homes and slash carbon emissions by a half-million metric tons annually if it made full use of secondary and tertiary recycled water supplies. For residents, that may mean installing a greywater system like the one we reported on in June of last year.
How many more reasons do we need to save water?
Thirsty Power Plants Starting to Use Treated Wastewater
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Power plants use as much water as crop irrigation in the U.S.
(Photo: Flickr)
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Currently around 50 power plants across the country are using treated wastewater for cooling, according to a study by Argonne National Laboratory. The quantity of water going into power plants is roughly the same as that being used to irrigate crops, and according to John Veil, the report’s author, while some of the water is returned to its original source after it is used in cooling, withdrawing such large quantities can still be a problem, especially in times of drought.
Examples of plants using wastewater include a natural gas plant near Austin, Texas, the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona and a few power plants in the Washington D.C. area.
Jim McDonald, a spokesman for Arizona Public Service, which operates the Palo Verde plant, believes Palo Verde is the only nuclear plant in the country to reuse treated wastewater, which it has done since opening in 1986. According to McDonald, the wastewater, which comes from Arizona’s biggest cities, is piped in and treated again at the plant.
Veil says that the question of cost is site-specific and is based on how much treatment the wastewater treatment plant already provides, how much additional treatment is required to meet the power plant’s needs, and how far the reclaimed water must be piped, since pumping water uses large amounts of electricity.
Posted by Stacey Meinzen on 11/19/08. Email story
Story link | Filed under: Industrial, Water Efficiency
San Francisco Promotes Rainwater Harvesting
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Residential Rain Collection Barrel (Photo: Flickr)
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San Francisco has joined a small but growing number of communities that promote rainwater collection as a way to conserve municipal water supplies. The City has clarified rules to allow residents to capture rainwater for non-potable uses such as watering gardens. San Francisco has also arranged for a local chain, Cole Hardware, to sell discounted rainwater collection barrels for $69.99, subsidized by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The decision comes on the heels of Governor Schwarzenegger’s declaration of drought for California.
Posted by Andrew Galbraith on 11/05/08. Email story
Story link | Filed under: Residential, Water Efficiency
Report: California Farmers Could Save Billions of Gallons Annually With Water-Sipping Crops and Efficient Irrigation Technology
California farmers are capable of saving billions of gallons of water annually with water-sipping crops and efficient irrigation practices and technology, according to a new report from the Oakland-based Pacific Institute. The report, More With Less: Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency in California — A Focus on the Delta, concludes that practices such as crop shifting, smart irrigation scheduling, advanced irrigation management and efficient irrigation technology could each save between 600,000 and 3.4 million acre-feet annually — equivalent to three to 20 dams of storage. The report focuses on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, but its recommendations have statewide implications — and not just as it regards water supply. Huge energy savings are possible, too, because, as was revealed in the 2005 Integrated Energy Policy Report, water-related energy uses account for 20% of California’s electricity consumption (e-Newswire, 4/04/07).
The report offers a host of wide-ranging recommendations, including those regarding planning, efficient practices and technology, government subsidies, water rights, inventorying water use and education and outreach. But, to detail just a few, the report argues for better combined land and water planning, including ensuring a 100-year water supply for all new developments; providing sales tax and property tax exemptions and/or rebates to offset the upfront cost of water-efficient irrigation systems; shifting subsidies from low-value, water-intensive crops to higher-value, less-water-intensive crops, and implementing new water rate structures; establishing groundwater management areas in locations facing overdraft pressures; compiling a consistent, comprehensive and accurate estimate of actual water use in California; and expanding and improving education and technical assistance programs provided to farmers.
Colleges Saving Energy and Water, Reducing Food Waste, By Taking Away Cafeteria Trays
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Colleges nationwide are ditching cafeteria trays in an effort to save energy and water and prevent food waste (Photo: University of South Carolina)
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Looking to save water and energy and reduce food and detergents waste, colleges nationwide are retiring cafeteria trays in their dining halls, reports the Associated Press. Already, 50% to 60% of the campuses served by Aramark, and 230 of the 600 campuses served by Sodexo, are expected to ditch their cafeteria trays, the companies told the AP. No nationwide cost savings have been compiled for the practice, but expected savings and early results are encouraging. Expected savings come from the fact that five times more energy and water are consumed in dining halls than any other square foot on college campuses, according to Sodexo’s Monica Zimmer. So far, Georgia Tech is saving 3,000 gallons of water per day without trays, and the University of Florida and the University of Maine at Farmington expect to save 470,000 gallons and 288,000 gallons respectively each year by going trayless. An Aramark study of 186,000 meals served at 25 campuses found that withholding trays (and preventing students from carrying away heaping portions of food) slashed food waste per person by 25% to 30%.
Greywater System Saves Water and Energy at Petaluma Home
Trathen Heckman, founder of non-profit Daily Acts, recently completed a household water re-use system that will irrigate his backyard with water drained from his shower, sink and clothes washer — and lower his water bill at the same time. Heckman’s Petaluma home is the first single-family household in Sonoma County with a legal, fully permitted greywater system.
The water will flow through a constructed wetland — a gravel-filled trench — where bacteria will eat up particles in the water. The cleaned water will then be distributed to three locations in Heckman’s back yard, where the roots of various edible plants and shade trees will soak it up.
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| A greywater marsh at the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. The system, employing a gravel-filled channel filled with vegetation, is similar to the one constructed by Trathen Heckman for his Petaluma home. (Photo: CCAT) |
According to Heckman, the system will potentially funnel 36,000 gallons of water a year into the backyard for irrigation. That’s 36,000 gallons that do not have to be pumped to the house from a remote location. Considering that water-related uses account for 19% of California’s electricity, 30% of its natural gas and 88 billion gallons of diesel fuel every year, that’s significant energy savings as well.
Heckman began planning his greywater system almost a year ago, working with civil engineer, Scott Stoller. Building official Cliff Kendall — who approved the project — said that while legal greywater systems haven’t taken off in the Bay Area because of a complex plumbing code, Heckman’s professionally designed system “made his job easy,” he told the Petaluma Argus Courier.
Heckman says that greywater systems are easier to have permitted in other states, such as neighboring Arizona, where the water code is much more flexible. However, he also says that the most important thing is to have an example of a permitted system that you can take to your city and say, “Look what other cities are permitting.”
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| Rainwater catchment system at the CCAT. Heckman’s catchment system stores up to 1,500 gallons for irrigation use. (Photo: CCAT) |
As part of the project, Heckman also installed a catchment system to capture rainwater running off his roof, to be stored in a 1,500-gallon tank for irrigation use. Heckman says that planting shade trees around the house and irrigating them with greywater can have the added benefit of cooling your house during the hot summer months, which will help you save on cooling costs while keeping your water bill low as well.
Posted by Stacey Meinzen on 06/04/08. Email story
Story link | Filed under: Residential, Water Efficiency
Study: Using Recycled Water Could Save Enough Energy to Power 150,000 California Homes
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California could save enough energy to power 150,000 homes and slash carbon emissions by a half-million metric tons annually if it made full use of secondary and tertiary recycled water supplies, according to a new study from the California Sustainability Alliance (CSA). Further, fully 15% of California’s total annual energy efficiency goal could be met with energy savings from currently available recycled water says Laurie Park, associate director of Navigant Consulting and principal author of The Role of Recycled Water in Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Reduction. Huge energy savings are possible because, as was revealed in the 2005 Integrated Energy Policy Report, water-related energy uses account for 20% of California’s electricity consumption (e-Newswire, 4/04/07). The CSA study notes that Southern California could meet more than half its additional water need — more than one-million acre-feet annually — by taking advantage of recycled water currently released to streams and the ocean. Using recycled water to augment its long-term water supply would also lessen Southern California’s need to rely on highly energy-intensive seawater desalination.
Sonoma County Wastewater Plan Will Produce Big Energy Savings
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Airport-Larkfield-Wikiup Sanitation Zone
(Photo: Sonoma County Water Agency)
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A pilot wastewater recycling plan emerging in a Sonoma County business park near the Charles M. Schulz Airport north of Santa Rosa would use highly treated water pumped from a nearby plant to heat and cool buildings and, eventually, to irrigate landscaping and vineyards, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Sonoma officials estimate savings of 90% on natural gas and 50% on electricity for heating and cooling. The project, estimated to cost $50 million to $70 million at the outset and $200 million when completed, includes sinking new pipes to distribute the water through the 450-acre Airport Business Center by 2010. A refrigeration unit will transfer heat to or from wastewater. A compressor will then convert that heat energy into warm or cold air that can be pushed through about 3-million-sq.-ft. of office space at the business park, replacing the traditional heating and air conditioning systems. The water can also be used to irrigate landscaping, or — with a secondary set of pipes — flush toilets. Sonoma officials will soon meet with lawmakers in Washington about allocating money for this project and establishing a fund to pay for similar projects across the U.S. Sonoma County has a goal of using renewable energy sources to power the county’s entire network of treatment plants and pumps by 2015.
