Loveland Indoor Retrofit Final Report

• Project Type: Ag/Muni Grant
• Contract/PO #: C153622
• Applicant: City of Loveland
• Project Name: Indoor Water Use Assessment and Retrofit Project
• Title: Indoor Water Use Assessment & Retrofit Project Final Report
• Date: 11/1/1994
• County: Larimer
• Water Conservation - Doc Type: Final Report

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FOR YOUR HOME

Over five hUlldrcd Loveland homes saved watcrllDd money this-year. A grant from the Colorado
Office ofWatcr Cooscrwtion pmvidcd IDOIIIl)' for the City of Loveland WattrfW_
Department to 8S1iCSS indoor water use llDd install watcr-<:onscrving devices in single family
homes. Bctwccn October 1992 and ]anuazy 1993, 580 volunteers participated in the project. A
water audit was done evaluating cxi$ring water use and water-ccmscrving faucet aerators; shower-
heads and toilet flappers were installed.
To _.0., the effcct of the retrofit de-
vices, we analyzed the winter quarter (indoor)
water use of the participants for the past two
years. We found that the IOtal water used by
the participanlS was 19.9% less in 1993 com-
pared with 1992. QuC8lions? Call 962-3711.

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Water Audit

. When you fill a glass with water, you Iatow
how much water you have used, but do you
know how much water it tabs to take a
shower, brush your teeth or flmh a toi1ct? To
find oUl, do your own indoor water audit.

Measure your water flow
You can IIlC8SlIle how much water you use by
,w.....";,,;,,g how much water flows out of your
fauccls and showctheads--dlis is ca\lcd the
flow 1lllC.
To measure the flow rate of a faucet or
sbowahcad, turn 011 the water to the scuing
you lIIlnD8i1y use. Hold a grao".'oon container
UDder the water for ten seconds. Measure the
8IDllUII1 of water collcc:tcd and multiply this
8IDllUII1 by six to get the volume per min_.
For c:xamplc, if you collcc:tcd 7V4 cups in ten
seconds when testing your showcrbcad, then
the flow IlllC is:
7.2S cups + 16 cups per gaJIon - .45 gaJIons
. .4S X 6 - 2.7 gaIlOllS per minUlc
To find cut bow much water you use for
a shower or brushing your tcelh, just multiply
the time the water flowed by the flow rate cal-
culaIal for the fixture. Thcrcfon:, if you take a
fiw-miImtc shower, you would use:
51 2.7 gpm - 13.5 ga\Ions of water

Measuring toilet water
Shut off the valve in the toiJctlllDk supply line
8IIli Dmt the water level in the rc:scm>ir. F1ush
thc toi\d. Now, refill the n:scrvoir to the
mada:d level using a gr-d_'...rt c:omaincr to de-
tcmIinc how much water is t-.lcd 10 flush the
toiIot.. - 29

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Retrofit

Mter you know how much water each of
your fixwrcs use, you can decide which 10
replace, or retrofiL Retrofit devices arc
available at most pllmlbing and building
supply stores, and you can installll105t of
them youn;clf.

Faucet aerators
An aerator is a simple device that mixes air
with water from your faucet. The air cuts
the flow so you use less water.

Showemeads
Watcr-saving showcrhcads cut the average
flow from about 4.5 gpm to as little as 1.25
gpm. Your energy savings through rcduc:cd
hot water use will help repay the cost of the
sbowcrbcad.

Toilets
Toilds arc the Iargcst water users inside the
home. If you have 3.5 - 6 gaJIon per flmh
(gpl) toilets, you can cut your indoor water
use by replacing them with 1.6 gpf u1lra
low f1mh toilets. ConventlonallOilds can
be modified with displaccmcnt bags or pm-
tic bou1es, 1Oi1ct dams or water-cflicicn1
fIappcrs 10 use less water.
L=ks in lOilds can be sneaky and
bani to deteCt, but they can WIISIC 8 lot of
water. Put a few drops of food coloring in
tbe lllDk llDd wait ten minutes. If color
shows up in the bowl. you have 8 leak.

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