A Great Guide To A Low-Flow Bathroom

Do you ever worry about how much water gets wasted in your bathroom?  Follow the steps in this guide for a low-flow bathroom.

It’s straightforward to look around your home and see green problems. The kitchen, for example, has too many harmful appliances while the bedroom is full of electronics. One room which doesn’t get enough attention is the bathroom. According to the statistics, old toilets can use up to seven gallons of water with a single flush. Taps can account for 153 litres per day. Green homes can’t jump on the vegetable oil-powered bandwagon unless they fix the issue, which is where low-flow comes into play.  Making your bathroom low-flow is a great step towards becoming more eco-friendly.

For those that don’t have the first clue where to start, here are the basics.

Install A New Toilet

Retro toilets are one of the main contributors to water wastage. One report puts the total number at 27% without including the washing machine and dishwasher. Their inefficiency is causing problems, and it needs ripping out as soon as possible. Before you replace it, please check the new model does what it says as the specs are confusing. Once you have a winner, hire a plumbing company to do the dirty. Otherwise, the inefficiency may not stop for a while. Finally, think about adding a dual-flush knob as they let you choose between flushing for liquid and solid waste.

Replace your outdated toilet with an upflush toilet system that uses less water. An upflush toilet is easy to install and does not require breaking the ground to connect to the home’s drainage system. Switching to water-saving fixtures not only saves you money on your utility bills, but also benefits the environment.

And A Shower Head

Just as there are low-flow toilets, there are shower heads too. On average, a shower can dispense eight gallons of water per minute, which isn’t helpful. Considering the average person lingers for longer than 5 minutes, it’s a lot of wasted H2O. Low-flows reduce the amount to 2.5 gallons. Although it is still a decent amount, it’s half the usual figure. For those who can’t afford a new shower head and a toilet, consider shortening your sessions as 300 seconds is all you need under the hot water. Any longer and your green bathroom is just another needless indulgence.

Invest In Motion Sensors

It sounds like something out of a Bond movie but it’s a necessary evil. It’s necessary because it keeps water wastage at an all-time low and evil because it costs a small fortune. Still, the money is well worth it for those of you that take the environment seriously. If you’re wondering where to install them, it isn’t on the doors or the windows. Nope, the bathroom taps. Lots of liquid gold is wasted when you brush your teeth and turn on the tap while messing with brushes and paste. Thanks to a sensor, the flow cuts out as soon as your hand moves away.

Yellow? Let It Mellow

As nasty as it sounds, peeing and not flushing is a simple way to save money. Hold on a minute before you vomit and listen to reason. Sure, it’s not nice to look at yet it doesn’t smell and you won’t spend your time staring into the toilet bowl. Anything else that is a little more solid can go straight away. But, as the saying goes, if it’s yellow you should let it mellow. Think of pee as a fine wine that needs to age!

Do you use too much water at home? If so, you need to take action for the sake of the planet.

Thanks for reading.

*This was a contributed post