Author: Cinco MUD 8

Meet Your Better Bathroom—Style With Savings

Remodeling your bathroom? You can have your dream bathroom with the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense^® program. WaterSense labels thousands of products in a variety of price points, styles and finishes—from sleek to chic—to create your bathroom oasis. Not only do WaterSense labeled products look amazing, they are independently certified to use 20 percent less water and perform as well or better than standard models.

And since you won’t have as much water to heat while showering or shaving, WaterSense labeled plumbing fixtures will save your family energy, and money on utility bills, too. A full bathroom remodel can save 10,000 gallons of water, enough energy to power your refrigerator for 7 months, and up to $150 in utility bills every year!

Download the Water Conservation Rebate Form.

Not in the market for a full-blown bathroom remodel? Check out these videos for easy, inexpensive “bath hacks” you can do to improve your bathroom’s performance. Swap out your showerhead with a WaterSense labeled model, install a WaterSense labeled faucet aerator, or replace your leaky toilet flapper for big water savings.

Learn more about ways to save water in your bathroom by visiting the WaterSense website at www.epa.gov/watersense/better-bathroom.

On average, a single-family home devotes at least 30 percent of its water for outdoor uses such as landscape irrigation, but that amount can be as much as 70 percent in arid regions. Unfortunately, without efficient watering practices, up to 50 percent of that water can go to waste due to inefficient watering methods and irrigation systems. Irrigation professionals, water utilities, and professional certifying organizations can use the materials and ideas in this section to help homeowners reduce outdoor water use and promote a healthy landscape that’s both beautiful and water-efficient.

During times of drought, it is doubly important to reduce outdoor water use and help save water around the home.

Improperly maintained irrigation systems can lead to significant water waste. Before your community ramps up its watering this spring, encourage homeowners and other customers to do a little “sprinkler spruce-up” to ensure their systems are operating efficiently. Use this call to action—inspect, connect, direct, and select—to help promote healthy landscapes and reduce water waste.

A broken or missing sprinkler head could waste 25,000 gallons of water and $280 over a six-month irrigation season. Before you ramp up your watering this spring, spruce up your irrigation system by remembering four simple steps—inspect, connect, direct, and select:

• Inspect. Check your system for clogged, broken, or missing sprinkler heads or go with a pro. Look for an irrigation professional certified through a WaterSense labeled program to help.
• Connect. Examine points where the sprinkler heads connect to pipes/hoses. If water pools in your landscape or you have large wet areas, you could have a leak in your system.
• Direct. If you are watering the driveway, house, or sidewalk instead of your yard? Redirect sprinklers to apply water only to the landscape.
• Select. Update your watering schedule with the seasons or select a WaterSense labeled controller to take the guesswork out of scheduling.

For more tips, visit http://www.epa.gov/watersense/outdoors or https://www.cincomud8.com