Greenbuilding Part V: Making Your Home Water Conscious Drop by Drop

This is the fifth article in an eight part series intended to educate home buyers and builders on the different aspects of building “green." Be sure to pick up the next issue to read all about strategies for slashing your energy consumption! 

Part I: Overview — Introduction to Green Building

Part II: Land Use Planning — Creating Value, Protecting the Environment

Part III: Material Science — New Options in Eco-friendly (and Healthier!) Building Materials

Part IV: Be a Miser — Strategies for Slashing Your Energy Consumption

Part V: A Drop in the Bucket — Painless Ways to Reduce Your Water Use

Part VI: Breathe Easy — Controlling Pollution Inside Your Home

Part VII: Xeriscaping — Drought-resistant, Low-maintenance Landscaping

Part VIII: Greening America — Green Certification and a Look at the Costs

Missed a previous green building article in the series? Find it online at www.NewHomesAndIdeas.com.

With Falls Lake, Raleigh’s primary water source, at its lowest ever recorded level, and hisToric drought conditions threatening to persist for the foreseeable future, water has become a hot topic in the Triangle and throughout North Carolina.

As this region continues its rapid growth, demands on a finite water supply will be even greater. And a resource that has represented a relatively small expense to the homeowner, promises to become more and more costly. Fortunately, manufacturers, builders and landscape designers and suppliers are stepping up with a whole new array of strategies for making both existing homes and new construction truly water-conscious—slashing water consumption by 30, 40, even
60%, without sacrificing lush gardens and creature comforts.

The average North Carolinian uses between 50 and 75 gallons of water each day.

The average household currently spends around $500 per year on its water and sewer bill. By making just a few simple changes, homeowners could easily slash that by a third. If all U.S. households installed water-efficient appliances, the country would save more than 3 trillion gallons of water and more than $18 billion dollars per year! In addition, reducing water use also reduces the need for costly water supply infrastructure investments and new wastewater treatment facilities.

And it takes an enormous amount of energy to deliver the treated water we use every day.

American public water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 billion kilowatt-hours  per year—enough electricity to power more than 5 million homes for an entire year. Letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours. Conserving water not only preserves that precious natural resource, it also helps to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change.

“We really try to educate our customers about water-saving options for their new homes,” says Steve Smalto of HomeQuest Builders. “Low-flow toilets, flow restrictor faucets, Bermuda grass—there are so many ways homeowners can reduce water consumption, and we’re constantly looking for new strategies to bring to our clients.”

Whole-House Solutions

Approximately 65 to 75% of residential water use is inside the home. And almost 20% of typical indoor water use goes straight down the toilet. Toilets manufactured prior to 1994 consume four to seven gallons of treated water per flush.  New and improved low-flow toilets average 1.3 gallons per flush. And even more efficient, dual-flush toilets average just one gallon per flush. Prevalent throughout Europe, these toilets feature two flush buttons—a .8-gallon flush for liquids and a 1.6-gallon flush for solids. Toto and Caroma are two manufacturers offering dual-flush toilets in the U.S.

And to reduce water consumption by toilets to almost zero, install the innovative Brac System. “This greywater recycling system captures water from sinks, showers and baths, purifies it and routes it back to toilet systems,” says P.J. Nery of Eco Smart, a Southeast regional building materials company that represents manufacturers of green building supplies. The manufacturer estimates that the average household generates just about the same amount of water bathing as it takes to flush the toilets in that household. The state-of-the-art Brac system integrates seamlessly with plumbing and the built-in fresh water system ensures an automatic switchover to potable water should flushing demands exceed the greywater supply.

Leaks can be a hidden source of water waste. A dripping faucet can drip away 3,000 gallons of water over a year’s time. To check your home for leaks, turn off all water and read your water meter. Without flushing toilets or running water elsewhere, wait two hours and read your meter again. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you have at least one leak. To check your toilet for leaking, place a drop of food coloring in the tank. If color appears in the bowl, you have a leak. A leaky toilet can waste as much as 200 gallons of water a day! Don’t forget to check outside faucets and garden hoses for leaks as well.

Be sure that all your shower heads and faucets are fitted with flow restrictors. Older, conventional shower heads typically had a flow rate of six gallons per minute. New ultra-low flow versions average 2.5 gallons per minute. Low-volume faucet aerators reduce consumption from faucets to about 2 gallons per minute. Utilizing these simple, inexpensive devices can reduce the average family’s water consumption by 15 gallons each day—that’s more than 5,000 gallons per year!

Like toilets, appliances have become much more stingy water users. Older washing machines slurp up about 41 gallons of water per load, while Energy Star machines use less than 28. Front-loading machines are more efficient than top-loading. Always adjust the water level to the load size.

Water-saving dishwashers use about 4 gallons of water, about one-third of the water needed by a standard dishwasher. Foregoing pre-rinsing dishes before loading them in the dishwasher can save as much as 20 gallons of water per load. Utilizing the pre-rinse cycle on your machine will typically use less water than rinsing at the sink. And because dishwashers use the same amount of water per cycle, no matter how many dishes, only run your dishwasher with a full load.

If your home requires a water purifier, these also can vary widely in the amount of water required for operation. “Kinetico water purification systems are not only energy efficient, but are also minimizing the amount of waste water generated during required clean-up cycles,” says Eugene Smelik of Advanced Water Systems. Smelik likewise advises homeowners to select water softeners that use a minimum amount of water and salt during their regeneration cycle.

On-demand hot water heaters can significantly reduce the amount of water wasted waiting for hot water to travel to the faucet, simply because they can be placed in closer proximity to the source of demand. “You have much more flexibility in placement,” says PSNC Energy senior appliance sales representative Wallace Lee. “Tankless hot water heaters can be installed in a closet, garage or even hung outside.

Lee also recommends hot-water recirculation devices to get hot water to faucets even faster. These systems circulate ambient temperature water back to the water heater, getting hot water to the fixtures four to five times faster, on average. Eco Smart carries an ingenious device for your shower head that will automatically switch off flow once the water runs hot. (How many times have you opened faucets and then been distracted while waiting for hot water?) Just flip a switch on the ShowerStart when you’re ready to step in, and hot water flows instantly.

Catch the Rain

Outdoor uses typically represent 25 to 35% of the average household’s water consumption. Fortunately, there are a variety of options for efficiently putting water that would ordinarily flow down storm drains to work, watering lawns, irrigating gardens and washing cars. Rainwater harvesting can be as simple as connecting a rain barrel to your roof gutter system or as sophisticated as a 5,000-gallon tank of filtered rainwater integrated to your entire irrigation system.

“For entry-level rainwater harvesting, we have designed our own 60-gallon rain barrel manufactured right here in North Carolina, and is made from 100% recycled content,” says Mike Ruck of Rain Water Solutions, Inc. “And for a comprehensive water strategy, we design systems that incorporate capture, filtration, storage and distribution.”

With rainfall in North Carolina averaging nearly three inches per month, a 2,000-square-foot home will shed more than 3,000 gallons of water every month. Capturing that water can not only provide abundant supplies for thirsty lawns and gardens, but it also helps save rivers and streams. The number one water quality issue in North Carolina is sedimentation, largely caused by high-velocity storm water runoff. Grabbing that rainwater, before it has a chance to rush down storm sewers, is an environmental win-win solution.

Rainwater runoff can also be captured from driveways and even lawns. Ruck engineers customized systems that take into account a homeowner’s unique water requirements—their landscaping choices, average rainfall, total roof area, etc. Rainwater is filtered of particulate down to 50 microns and funneled to underground or above ground storage tanks.

Free-Flo underground rainwater catching systems are fully self-contained kits that harvest not only rainwater, but also condensation from air conditioners (a three-ton unit can drip away five to eight gallons of condensation in 24 hours) and swimming pool waste-water lines. Lawns can be graded and fitted with a filter box at their lowest point for capturing groundwater.

“These kits are pre-plumbed and pre-assembled,” says Free-Flo owner, Mark Urban. “They feature both a patented filtration process and a patented distribution system.”  And these units are already stubbed out for connecting to toilets, once municipalities approve harvested rainwater for this purpose.

An added bonus of utilizing harvested rainwater is a healthier lawn and garden. PH neutral and free of the ammonia, fluoride and chlorine typically used to treat municipal water supplies, rainwater makes for hardier plants that can even require less fertilization—another environmental bonus.

As the Governor calls on North Carolinians to cut back on water use, homeowners have a whole new arsenal of strategies for slashing consumption, inside the house and out. And the benefits are plentiful—not only a sustainable, cleaner water supply, but also savings in energy, healthier lawns and gardens, infrastructure costs and a smaller water bill to pay at the end of each month.

18 Things You Can Do to Save Water
Information courtesy of NC Soil and Water Conservation

In The Bathroom....
1. Shorten your shower. A one or two minute reduction can save up to 700 gallons of water each month.
2. Replace your showerheads with low-flow showerheads or install flow restrictors.
3. Put trash in the wastebasket and cigarettes in the ashtray – don't flush!  Each time you flush a small bit of trash in a standard toilet, you waste five to seven gallons of water.
4. Check for leaks in your toilets.  See page 86 for instructions.
5. When brushing your teeth, wet your toothbrush, then turn off the water.
6. Rinse your razor in a partially-filled sink instead of under a running tap.
7. Check faucets and pipes for leaks.  Replace worn washers - even a small drip from a worn washer can waste 20 or more gallons a day.  Larger leaks can waste hundreds.
8. Put a plastic bottle in your toilet tank.  Fill the bottle with water and a small amount of pebbles (to weigh it down) and place in your tank; away from the operating mechanisms.  Your plastic bottle can save you 10 or more gallons of water each day.
9. While waiting for your bath water to get warm, place a bucket under the faucet to catch the cold water.  Use that water later to water your house plants.
10. Building or remolding your home?  Ask your builder to install ultra-low flush toilets and faucets.

In the Kitchen and Laundry.....
1. Keep a bottle of water in the refrigerator for drinking.  Don't run the tap waiting for cold water.
2. Rinse vegetables in a pan of water - not under a running faucet.
3. Use your dishwasher and washing machine for full loads only.
4. Never leave the water running if you wash dishes by hand.  Fill one sink with soapy water and one with rinse water.  If you have only one sink, use a dish rack and rinse with hot water.
5. Use the smallest amount of detergent possible when washing dishes by hand.  This reduces the amount of rinse water needed.
6. Check your kitchen/bath pipes and faucets for leaks and replace worn washers immediately.
7. Use the garbage disposal less and the garbage can more often.  Better yet, compost!
8. Defrost frozen foods in the microwave or refrigerator, instead of under running water.

Photo Credit

Photo #1 of the BRAC System courtesy of Eco-Smart, Inc.

Photo #2 of the Rianni Continuum courtesy of PSNC Energy

Photo #3 of the Fre-Flo 1200 Gallon Tank courtesy of Free-Flow