Comments on: The One Hour Project: Conserve Water

By: p. observer

p. observer — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:53:07 +0000

and no one thought of “if its yellow let it mellow if its brown flush it down”

By: Rosa Rugosa

Rosa Rugosa — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:13:21 +0000

I think a lot of folks got turned off by early model ultra low-flush toilets. I believe ours was by Eljer, and you had to hold the handle down for awhile to flush. These were definitely works in progress. We’ve had a basic inexpensive Kohler for several years now, and can’t tell the difference from a conventional toilet, except that it uses less water. Would definitely recommend.
Showering together is our absolute favorite conservation tip. We’ve been doing this for years. It takes longer than for one of us showering alone, but less time than two separate showers. Plus it’s friendlier, and we have cleaner backs!
We have a low-flow shower head that is wonderful. We first ran into it at a favorite hotel, and I searched for one for years, because it didn’t have a brand name stamped on it. One day in Home Depot, my husband spied a “navy- style” water saving shower head that looked like what we were after, and it only cost about $7.00, so we decided to try it. That was it! It actually seems to increase the water flow impact, and gives you the best shower ever. You can turn off the flow when you soap up, but I would never resort to such spartan measures. (To our dismay, favorite hotel has switched to prettier shower heads that don’t give nearly as good of a flow, but hey, we take a lot more showers at home!)

By: kidstube.com

kidstube.com — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:36:34 +0000

Check your water bill from your utility comapany closely for a meter charge. We found out we were paying 8.75 per month for a 1″ meter, when a 1/2 ” meter was provided at no charge. Yes, we noticed a slight drop in pressure, but 8.75 per month. Come on.

By: steve

steve — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 23:05:31 +0000

If you really want to save, try using a humanure system and get rid of those water costs for good! No flushing, no water usage and in my experience and his (below) it doesn’t smell. If you live in the SouthWest USA you should really consider it. You will probably need to in the medium term future.

cf: Jenkins, The Humanure Bible

By: Wink Jr.

Wink Jr. — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:15:14 +0000

Depends on your water supply. I own a house, and most of my bill is charges for hookup even if I don’t use a drop, sewer and other fees. When I bought the house both toilets were leaking badly. I’ve cut my usage to 5% of the previous owners’ but it only saves me about $5-10 per quarter.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t conserve, but actual water usage is often only 10-30% of the total bill. Gas and electric usage is much better to focus on for starters.

ThinkGeek and other places have a unit you can plug in to see how much power things draw – it can be very revealing and surprising.

By: Macinac

Macinac — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:43:47 +0000

My water softener uses a lot of water in the recharge cycle. The stuff coming out of there is (presumably) heavy in calcium carbonate. How can I use this water if I capture it?

By: Sophie

Sophie — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:45:52 +0000

holli jo, you have to weight the water bottle by filling it partway with something like gravel or marbles – that will keep it from shifting out of the corner of the tank.

By: holli jo

holli jo — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:25:47 +0000

Well, I was very excited to try the water bottle in the toilet tank, both for saving money and for conserving water (we’re in a drought).

However, I experienced the problem that UltraRob warned about. I came back to the bathroom a few minutes later and found that the bottle had opened the drain valve and water was constantly running out. :( It probably wasted more water than I could have saved, so I promptly took it out.

What did I do wrong?

By: Amy K.

Amy K. — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:02:58 +0000

Thanks! It was a serious question, I just knew it was a stupid (or at least, should-have been obvious) question.

I always assumed the bucket was to catch water while you were in the shower as well, and didn’t see how it could be useful. I was thinking about it more as I hopped in the shower this morning. I think, if I were going this route, I’d pop a bucket under the spray while the cold water is being flushed out of the pipes, then hit the pause button and take the bucket out of the shower before I hopped in.

No need to scoot the bucket into the corner, or worry about kicking it over. I already take “navy showers” so it wouldn’t be a big change.

By: Amy K.

Amy K. — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:01:19 +0000

Thanks!

No need to scoot the bucket into the corner, or worry about kicking it over.

By: Sophie

Sophie — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:51:19 +0000

Amy K., assuming your question was serious:

We set a couple of buckets under the spray while the hot water is warming up and scoot them into the far corners of the shower stall to keep them out of the way while we’re showering. No need for a leg in the bucket – or a diagram.

By: Amy K.

Amy K. — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:42:25 +0000

****** Disclaimer: Stupid Question ********

Could someone explain the bucket-in-the-shower logistics to me, or point me to a diagram?

I’ve tried Google, and haven’t had any luck. I can’t picture where I stand (one leg in the bucket?) to get the rinse water to stay in the bucket rather than running down me and into the drain.

It seems like a good use of water when my neighborhood is under a watering ban.

By: Mr. Nickle

Mr. Nickle — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:56:27 +0000

The cost of making an energy/water saving improvement should be weighed against the savings. If you plan to live in a home long enough that the savings should more than pay for the expense of doing it, I would consider it.

Paying a landscaper to redo your yard so it is xeriscaped is probably going to be very expensive. Though I may not live in my house long enough for the savings to make sense long term, I’m considering this because I might have a decrease in income in the future.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:39:07 +0000

Re: the bottle/brick in the tank suggestion–I believe most efficient toilet tanks don’t need this, but you could always experiment to see the effects they have. If you do try the brick, I would suggest you place the brick in a quality plastic zip lock bag to prevent it from corroding and damaging your tank.

When I lived in the country and water was very scarce, I used to place a 5 gallon bucket in my shower and used it to flush the toilet with. Between the several showers taken a day, the bucket took care of most of the flushing. Of course this wasn’t about saving money, but conserving what little water we had in our well and systern.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:01:05 +0000

check for toilet leaks via a few drops of food coloring in the tank – if you see color in the bowl, you’ve got a leak

By: laura k

laura k — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:22:24 +0000

At my theater we had a toilet that ran constantly. As things tend to go in an all-volunteer, “for fun” organization, it didn’t get dealt with until we renovated our bathrooms. Even though we went from one (leaky) toilet to six (non-leaky) ones in the women’s room, our treasurer told me that our water bill dropped $300/month (!) once we got rid of the one that ran constantly.

Re: dishwashers, I recently heard that Energy Saver models use less water than even someone who is very frugal with water uses by hand washing. I find this hard to believe, and I can’t put my finger on any hard data. Someone I work with heard it on this show: http://www.livingwithed.net/eguide.asp?CID=12&xepisode=Season%202. I guess Ed Begley, Jr. is quite the conservationist (he rides an exercise bike to power his toaster: http://www.livingwithed.net/energy.asp?target=33).

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:14:00 +0000

We pay approximately 9/10 of a cent per gallon for water, so have learned to use water efficiently. I have made 4 rain barrels from 55-gallon food quality plastic drums–2 at no cost through our local extension office, the other 2 for approximately $30 each. They are placed under our 4 rain gutter downspouts and used for watering our outdoor, newly planted native landscape. Information on building your own is readily available online. My future project is to attach additional barrels to catch overflow. I also collect the air conditioner water and will eventually flow that into a rain barrel as well. A friend is using a pump in the rain barrel to water his orchids.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:10:38 +0000

I’ve taken to shutting the water off during the part of my shower when I use the loofah and body wash. This saves gallons.

By: Trent

Trent — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:54:41 +0000

I suggest in the article taking longer showers if you enjoy them – not sure what that bit was about.

By: Jesus Clinton

Jesus Clinton — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:05:16 +0000

What a bad suggestion taking shorter showers…I feel so much more refreshed when I take longer shorters and it definitely pays off. Just take the extra time and you will feel alot better for the job/tasks you have and I’m sure the small amount of $ you spend water is worth the extra when you start an easily start a small business/blog. It’s just a good use of time to wake up/relax and prepare for your endeavors. I’m sorry you couldn’t manage your time and feel you’re in debt, but this is a horrible suggestion. Too simple a dollar this time, Trent. Oh well, bet you’re stressed out with the baby care you’re up to.