PUB00050

• Year: 1997
• Title: Layperson's Guide to Water Conservation
• CWCB Section: Water Conservation & Drought Planning
• Author: California Water Education Foundation
• Description: Layperson's Guide to Water Conservation
• Publications - Doc Type: Other

20 million residential toilets in California had been
replaced with ultra-low-flush models.

California pioneered mandatory use of low-flow
showerheads in 1978. Before then, showerheads
delivered water at rates ranging from 3 gallons per
minute (gpm) up to 8 gpm. Since January 1994.
federal standards have limifed flow rates to 2.5 gpm
for showerheads and kitchen and bathroom faucets
manufactured in the U.S.

Many water districts have embarked on programs
to replace older, water-wasting toilets and
showerheads with the newer, water saving models.
MWD and its 27 member agencies have teamed with
community, church, school groups and others to
subsidize programs that have replaced more than 1
million older toilets. MWD credits the Insfallation of
low-flush toilets and low-flow showerheads with
saving nearly 45,000 acre-feet of water per year.

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Not everyone is happy with ultra-low-flow toilets,
however. Some reports have indicated that ultra-
low-flush models may back up more frequenfly than
older models that used more water, but improve-
ments in designs of ultra-low-flush toilets reportedly
have eliminated this problem.

The cheapest water saving option for most
homeowners is to install a low-flow showerhead,
which can be purchased for as little as $10. Toilets
are more expensive, and may require professional
installation. For those who cannot afford new fixtures,
the do-ii-yourself water conservation techniques of
the past are still effective. Experts discourage
placing solid objects like bricks in toilet tanks, but
placing a plastic bag or container filled with water in
the tank will reduce the amount of water used for
each flush.

iHClI1Y c011selTation steps
initiated during shortage
periods hare become
instiIltli(}/wli:.ed among
urhan users. Millio/ls of
ull1"a-lou'-j7lts'h loilelS amI
IOIl'-flow shmrerheads
/ia\'(> bee>n i/lSIalled ill
ren'llt .n'an. ami busilless
and industry hm'e Joined
elIorts 10 COllselTe wmer
illlheir operations.

Water saving features also are being introduced into
other household appliances that use water, such as
dishwashers and clothes washers, Frigidaire intro-
duced a line of water-conserving dishwashers and
clothes washers in late 1996 with water saving
features of both appliances touted by the manu-
facturer along with their other benefits.

The company estimates its front-loading clothes
washers use 40 percent less water per load than
average, which it said could save 8,000 gallons of
water per year for a family of four. Although the
washers carry a higher initial price tag than com-
petitors' similarly sized models, the manufacturer
says the water and energy savings will offset the
price differential after about five years of use. A
companion line of dishwashers is designed to use 6
gallons of water for a normal wash cycle, compared
to the average of 8 gallons per cycle for most popular
dishwashers.

GRAYWATER

Another potential method 01 stretching urban water
supplies is to irrigate plants with "graywater" - water
that already has been used for bathing or clothes
washing. Graywater can account for more Ihan half
of all indoor water use in a typical residence. How.
ever, some household water. such as wastewater

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