Every Drop Counts
More than 1 trillion gallons of water are wasted in U.S. homes each year from easy-to-fix leaks. In the average home, household leaks waste more than 10,000 gallons of water each year. That’s enough to wash nearly 10 months’ worth of laundry!
Here’s how to identify leaks around your home:
Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter changes at all, you probably have a leak.
Winter months are the prime time to check water use and see if you may have a leak. If a family of four exceeds 12,000 gallons per month in the winter, you probably have leaks!
Here’s how you can address leaks found at home:
Check for leaks. Look for dripping faucets, showerheads, and fixture connections as well as toilets with silent leaks, by putting a few drops of food coloring into the tank and seeing if it appears in the bowl before you flush. Don’t forget to check irrigation systems and spigots too.
Twist and tighten pipe connections. To save more water without a noticeable difference in flow, twist on a WaterSense labeled faucet aerator.
Replace the fixture if necessary. Look for WaterSense labeled models, which are independently tested and certified to use 20 percent less water and perform as well as or better than standard models.