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As long as you are not wasting water, it is up to you to
decide how much to use. Using less water can save you money in the
short term by lowering your utility bill (and energy bill if you use less
hot water). Using less water may save you money in the long run as
well since increases in water demand are what necessitates expensive water
treatment plant upgrades.
There are two primary strategies to save water.
One strategy is to upgrade plumbing fixtures and appliances with those that
use less water. The other strategy, and one that is just as important,
is to upgrade the way that you think about and USE water. The
Corvallis Water Audit Program can help you make both of these upgrades.
Public Works staff can visit your home, measure the water use from various
fixtures & appliances, provide some simple conservation hardware
(showerhead, faucet aerator, toilet displacement devices, etc.) and will
provide you with information on other ways you can save. Most
households can save many gallons of water each day by combining a few simple
plumbing installations with simple lifestyle changes. Contact
Corvallis Public Works at 541-766-6916 to schedule your water audit.
Perhaps it is not practical for you to have a free water
audit provided for your home. Since nobody knows more about your water
needs and consumption than you do, you may choose to try a self-audit.
The steps below will guide you through the process.
Public Works Utilities staff is available to help track down
leaks and offer tips on ways you can reduce household water consumption. If
you would prefer to perform your own water audit, call us for a free "do
it yourself" home water survey kit. The kit provides step-by-step instructions
on how to determine your water usage, where to look for leaks, and ways you
can save water. For more information about the survey kits or to schedule a
free home water audit, contact Public Works.
| Steps |
Details |
Results |
| Check water meter for evidence of system leaks. |
First, turn off all the water using devices
in the house (i.e., don't use faucets, flush toilets, wash clothes, or
take a shower). Next, check the meter. Most meters have a
leak indicator (click for picture).
This is a red or white triangle or diamond shape on the face of the meter.
If the detector is moving, you have a leak. If your meter does not
have a leak indicator, read the meter before going to bed or to work and
then again several hours later. If you have not used any water but
the meter changes, you have a leak. |
The number one way to save water is to fix leaks.
Other steps in the audit can help find the leak or leaks. A common
leak is the toilet flapper -- it can leak significant amounts of water
silently. |
| Test the toilet for leaks. |
Place a dye tablet or a teaspoon of food coloring
in the TANK (the back part) of the toilet. Do not flush the toilet.
Wait at least fifteen minutes -- longer if possible. Check for color
in the toilet BOWL. If there is any color, you have a leak. |
If you have a leak, find out if it's the flapper
or fill valve. Make a pencil line on the inside of the tank at the
water level, then shut off the water supply to the toilet (use the plumbing
stop at the wall). Wait overnight without flushing. If the
water level is lower, your flapper is leaking; if the water level is the
same, you have a problem with the fill valve. NOTE: If you have
a water conserving toilet with a flapper leak, be sure to get the specific
flapper as a replacement because if you use the wrong flapper, you may
inadvertently eliminate water savings from the toilet! |
| After you have tested the toilet for leaks,
you can determine the flush volume. |
You will need a tape measure or water-resistant
ruler. First open the tank and measure the length and width.
Write these numbers down. Next, measure the height of the water
level in inches. Keep the tape measure in place and flush the toilet.
Note the height of the water level at its lowest point and subtract this
from the water level when the tank is full and write down the result.
Multiply the three numbers (length, width, change in depth) together,
then divide by 231 and add 0.3 to the result. This will tell you
the approximate flush volume in gallons. |
Ultra-efficient toilets (those models sold in
the USA since 1992) use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf).
Toilets built in the 1980s and up until 1992 use about 3.2 gpf.
Older toilets can use more than 5.0 gpf, and some use as much as 7.0 gpf!
If you have an older toilet, you can use a displacement device, adjustable
flapper, or toilet dam to reduce the flush volume while maintaining the
height of the water in the tank. This may save some water.
The best thing to do is to upgrade your toilet to an efficient model.
Some toilets qualify for a
rebate from the City of Corvallis. |
| Measure the flow rate of the shower, lavatory
faucets, and the kitchen sink. |
There are a few ways to measure flow rates.
The easiest way is to use a stopwatch and see how long it takes to fill
a known volume of water. Another easy way is to use a measuring
device to see how much water flows from the faucet in a given amount of
time. Corvallis Public Works has graduated measuring bags that measure
approximate flow rates from five seconds of flow; they are available upon
request. Convert your result into gallons per minute (gpm)
using the appropriate conversion factors. |
Flow from the showerhead should be no more than
2.5 gpm, though 2.2 gpm or less is ideal.
Flow from the lavatory (bathroom) faucet should be less than 1.5 gpm.
Some people like more flow from the kitchen faucet than the lavatory
faucet; it should be less than 2.5 gpm.
Corvallis Public Works has faucet aerators available on request if
your faucets are flowing at higher rates. Showerheads are also
available if your shower uses more than 3.0 gpm.
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| If you have a clothes washer, estimate the water
used to wash a load of clothes. |
Average water consumption for a top-loading
washer is about 45 gallons. Some extra-capacity and super-capacity
models use over 55 gallons. Horizontal axis machines (front-loaders)
generally use much less water, with some models using as little as twelve
gallons per load (though the load is smaller). |
If you are considering replacing your current
washer or buying your first one, please consider buying one that is water
efficient. Look for machines that have a "Water Factor"
(the amount of water needed to wash one cubic foot of laundry) of 9.0
or less. The
EPA's Energy Star website has information about the water factor of
different machines. Some washers qualify for a
rebate from the City of Corvallis. |
| Check all water-using fixtures or devices for
leaks. |
If you can see drops coming out of your faucet
when the faucet handle is off, you have a leak. This should be fairly
obvious, but some people will ignore that drip, drip, drip for a long
time. Don't let this be you! |
If you have a leak, FIX IT. Corvallis
Public Works has a set of three brochures to help you repair leaks in
toilets, sinks, or showers. |
| If you have an irrigation system, give it an
audit, too! First give the system a tune-up. |
Make sure none of the heads are blocked by turf,
soil, shrubs, or anything else. Make sure the water is aimed where
it's supposed to be (no matter how much you water the sidewalk or driveway,
they aren't going to grow, and if they do, you're just going to ruin your
mower trying to mow it). Repair or replace damaged or missing spray
heads or rotors. |
It is a very good idea to water during the very
late evening or very early morning. You should also run the irrigation
system manually for a few minutes once a month when you can watch it and
make sure it's still working correctly! |
| Next, determine the application rate. |
Spread out several straight-sided containers
in the irrigated area. You can use tin cans (tuna, cat food, soup,
etc.) or any container with STRAIGHT SIDES. Turn on the irrigation
for a known amount of time, then measure the depth of water in each can.
Find the average, then determine the rate in inches per hour. |
You now have a very important tool at your disposal.
You know the application rate of your system. The amount of irrigation
your landscape needs will change through the season (you will need more
water, for example, in mid-July than you do in late May or early September).
To find out how long to run your system, call the Corvallis Water Conservation
Hotline at 541-766-6733. The hotline provides an irrigation requirement
in inches per week, and the message is updated at least twice per week
during the irrigation season. Note that using too much water can
actually damage your landscape! Ideally, you should change your
irrigation program no less than once per month. |
| If you are really motivated, determine the efficiency
of your system. |
Using the data from the application rate above,
select one fourth of the cans that have the least amount of water and
determine the average application rate for those cans only. Divide
this number by the application rate determined above. The result
will be a fraction and is called the Distribution Uniformity or DU.
Uniformity is important; in order to get enough water to the areas with
the least coverage by the irrigation system, other areas will receive
too much water. |
In an ideal system, the DU will be 1.0.
No system has ever been built that is 100% efficient. A goal for
a residential irrigation system is to have a DU greater than 0.6 (or +0%).
Note that if your DU is 0.5, you will have to apply twice as much water
to the landscape in general to make sure the areas with less coverage
get enough water. There are a number of things that you can do to
improve your DU. For more information about irrigation, contact
Public Works! |
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