A Water Efficiency Guide for a Smarter Home

Water is a precious resource that geopolitical experts predict wars will be fought over it in the future. For now, your households have access to all the water we can spend but that doesn’t mean we should use this nature’s resource indiscriminately. On the contrary, our home should be smart in the sense it uses water efficiently across the household. Read on for our water efficiency guide for a smarter home:

1. Learn to close the water tap

One of the most common pieces of advice to save water is to close the water tap. Modern taps are easy to use, as even a small child can operate them. Adults, on the other hand, no longer have an excuse for leaving the tap on while they brush their teeth or soap the dishes. Whether it’s the kitchen or the bathroom tap, it should be on only when you are actually using it.

2. A walk-in shower or a bathtub?

Another great way to save water in the bathroom is to install a walk-in shower instead of a bathtub. The latter is convenient if you have small children but a bubble bath uses 2 to 3 times more water than a five-minute shower.

With a shower, you will wash faster and use significantly less water, making this fixture ideal for a smart, eco-friendly home. If seniors use the shower, then consider installing a seat and grab rails inside the shower cabin.

3. A conventional toilet or a bidet?

Most Western homes have conventional toilets in the water room but there is an alternative coming from the East. A bidet is a toilet fixture invented in Medieval France but its popularity spread across the world, mainly in Japan and the Middle East.

Not having to buy rolls of toilet paper seems like the biggest advantage of bidets but there is more to it. Namely, the flushing system of a modern bidet is “smarter” than that of a conventional toilet. This means that a well-targeted spritz of the bidet uses up to 20 times less water than the average flushing does.

4. Harvesting rainwater

Apart from preserving the water you already have, you can make new quantities by collecting rainwater. Huge PVC barrels are used for harvesting rainwater by attaching them to the drain coming from the roof. Every time it rains, the barrels fill up with rainwater that is later used for watering the garden when you attach a tap a hose to them.

5. Smarter watering solutions

Speaking of watering the garden, there are additional ways to moderate water consumption. Before you plant the garden, create a layout that puts succulents away from the house. This way, plants that need watering every day will be closer to the automatic hose reel that pivots 180 degrees to reach the whole garden. Also, the sprinkler head shouldn’t spray water around, as this is indicative of a malfunction.

6. The swimming pool in winter

If you own a backyard swimming pool, then you cannot wait for the summertime when you idly lounge by the side of the pool. However, you need to protect the pool during winter, which is done by covering using a large plastic canvas. This way, leaves and rainwater won’t accumulate at the bottom of the pool, reducing its maintenance (less water for rinsing the pool).

7. Water management of the AC unit

An air-conditioning system has an exterior unit that usually sits on top of the house or is attached to the side of the structure. You might have noticed that your AC unit has a drainage pipe, meaning it uses water to operate.

Modern air conditioning is pretty energy-efficient but the whole system needs regular cleaning to operate to the maximum of its abilities. Take out the maintenance manual and see which parts might need replacement and which sections of the AC unit you can clean on your own.

8. Dealing with leaks

Just like the AC unit, the plumbing inside your house shouldn’t leak anywhere. This goal seems trivial for modern structures but trust us, old houses have leaks in several places that owners usually aren’t aware of.

That’s why inspecting the kilometers of piping before the onset of winter will prove essential for curbing water consumption and preventing a disaster if a pipe bursts. Inspecting the bathroom is easy but you should call a professional umber to inspect the lines underneath the house and inside the walls.

9. Tracking your water usage

Finally, you can track how much water your household consumes using a smart water meter. Once you see for yourself how many liters you gulp up every day, you can come up with a strategy that will curb water consumption and preserve this precious resource.

Bottom Line

As you have seen from our examples, making your home water smart is more than feasible. Moreover, the changes suggested above are affordable in the sense that they will pay off in a couple of months. Whether it’s a retractable hose reel or a water usage meter you invest your money in, household water efficiency is a lucrative reward to strive for.