The Good Life – November-December 2020

WRITTEN BY: JEFFREY MILLER
Last issue I wrote about conserving rainwater. While it's
easy to look up and see the rain, it can be more difficult to
think about the water that is used in homes and apartments
each day. As each person uses water every day, conserving
our water is something that benefits everyone.
It may come as a surprise to many, but the City of Fargo
gets its primary drinking water from the Red River, with a
backup of the Sheyenne River.
According to the City of Fargo, the current usage for
drinking water is 8 to 10 million gallons of water per day
in the winter, with 15 to 16 million gallons of water in the
summer.
With that much water being filtered from the river and
being utilized, it behooves all of us to conserve it. With
a metro population of over 200,000 people, even small
efforts can have a tremendous benefit on the resource.
The toilet in your home can be a major source of water
inefficiency. These appliances account
for nearly 30% of a home's water
consumption. A leaky toilet can
accumulate thousands of gallons
of water wasted a year. While
that is hard both on the resource
and your pocketbook, thankfully
it can be easily fixed. An easy way
to check for leaks is by adding food
coloring to the tank. After waiting 30
minutes or so, check the water in the bowl. If there is food
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color in it, there is a leak. It may take a new flapper or
valve, but the small cost of the fix will pay back many times
over in water bills. Why pay for water you aren't using?
Sticking with toilets, older toilets use anywhere from
three to seven gallons of water per flush. Newer models
use 1.6 gallons or less. If the old toilet is performing well,
a simple way to reduce the water per flush is to put a
couple 20-ounce soda bottles filled with sand in the tank.
The bottles will displace the water and lessen the water it
takes to fill the tank.
Leaky faucets are also a major source of
wasted water. Water loss at the rate
of one drip per second can waste
more than 3,000 gallons per
year. Simply replacing the leaky
faucet will stop this waste. If the
faucet isn't leaking, but water
conservation is desired, installing
an aerator is an inexpensive way to
reduce the water used by almost half,
with little reduction of water pressure.
Like old toilets, old showerheads are
notorious water wasters. Simply
installing a modern showerhead
can reduce water usage by up to
50%, with no noticeable decrease
in water pressure. By reducing
showering time, water usage can
be reduced further.