When I first moved out of my parent’s house, I lived with a couple of friends in a condo complex. The three of us shared rent which included trash, maintenance, and water. A few years later, we went our separate ways and I rented a small house in Erie. I thought I had budgeted for everything. I averaged out what my electrical and gas use would be and researched the local trash companies. What I didn’t count on was the GARGANTUAN water bill! Now, with some wisdom and research, I give to you some Bathroom Water Saving Tips.
Holy Cow!
Since I hadn’t had to pay for water in the condo, I really wasn’t prepared for how much I would have to fork over. After a couple of really expensive months, I started looking at my usage to see where I could minimize.
My first stop was the kitchen. I drank a lot of soda at the time and, being single, didn’t really run the dishwasher all that often so I ruled that out. Next, I moved onto the laundry room. Being young and broke, I didn’t have many clothes to wash and only ran the washer once a week; no big water expenditures there. No lawn also meant no sprinkler system to suck my money away either.
Bathroom Water Saving Tips
All of this left one room and as I walked down the hallway to examine it, I heard it. The sound of my hard-earned cash dripping its way down the drain. Yep, you guessed it. The biggest cause of my jaw-dropping water bill was the bathroom.
As I looked around the throne room, I started counting the ways that my treasury was being wasted. Both the tub and the sink had signs of slow leaks; the calcium and rust deposits on the faucets and drains were proof of that. I would need to get those repaired or replaced. I also learned that my toilet was leaking which explained why it sounded like the tank was filling every once in a while even though no one had used it.
So, once I called the plumber and had him make repairs ($150 later), I thought that my money problems were done…until the next bill came in. I stared at it in horror and amazement! Even though it had dropped by almost 25%, it was still huge! Did I have other leaks that I didn’t know about? The tool laden guy with the hairy butt-crack said I was good, so what was next?
A water saving toilet… The current federal standard for toilets in the U.S. is 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf), but many old toilets use much more water. While I had to budget for a new toilet, I learned that many city municipalities that offer a rebate for changing out to water efficient toilets, if your looking to change out your toilet, its worth checking out your cities website, you may be pleasantly surprised!
What else could I do?
To answer my question, I went to my guru: The All-Knowing Google! After a few hours of search, I finally figured out why my bill was so high. It wasn’t the leaks, it was me.
I was part of the problem…
As it turned out, I needed to change a few of my habits. Apparently, 2 showers a day gets expensive, so I cut back to just my morning routine and started showering more at the gym after my workout. I also spent a little bit at my DIY store and got a new water saving showerhead and a motion sensing faucet for the sink. As it turns out, leaving the water running while I brushed my teeth and other morning stuff was basically like pouring money down the pipes. It took a few days to get used to, but now my new routine is just that…routine.
And my water bill?
Well, all the effort paid off. By the end, the number went from astronomical to acceptable. That few years definitely taught me about how expensive water use in the bathroom can be. To this day, I watch my water usage and make certain that everything is in good repair and economical so that I never have to waste money on water again.