Water-Wise San Diego Plumbing
As San Diego plumbers, we’ve been to a lot of homes around here and San Diegans take pride in their homes! Among San Diego homeowners, water conservation is a top priority, for environmental and financial reasons. Luckily, there are numerous programs for water savings (indoors and out) offered by the San Diego County Water Authority. Here’s the quick scoop on a few of these programs, so you can connect with your San Diego Plumbing expert to get started and possibly get a rebate to help cover the costs.
San Diego Plumbing Tips to Save Water
New Toilets Save Water & Money
One of the best ways to start saving is by upgrading to high-efficiency toilets (more recently referred to as HETs). Did you know toilets are (by a long shot) the main source of water use in the home? These guzzlers account for nearly 30 percent of indoor water consumption in an average home. Modern HETs only use 1.28 gallons per flush or less and still provide equal or better flush performance. Aside from that, they now come with some pretty fancy perks like bidets, dryers and warm seats! The environmental impact is significant enough that the SoCal WaterSmart program provides incentives for upgrading to high-efficiency toilets. Rebates start at $50 and your San Diego plumber will know which (and may also sell) HET models qualify.
Get a HEW! A What???
WaterSmart also gives a rebate for high-efficiency clothes washers (HEWs). HEWs can use 55% less water and 30% less energy than standard top-loading models. Those are pretty significant numbers when you think about how much you use these appliances! Once again, these newer appliances don’t just stop at high-efficiency, they perform better too. They clean your clothes better, are gentler on your clothes and cut drying time in half. To get a rebate, starting at $85, get a qualifying HEW with a water efficiency factor of 4.0 or less.
Consider Smart Lawns
A beautiful home needs a beautiful yard, but keeping it all up during a hot, dry summer can be costly. It’s also a terrible waste of water if you are using inefficient watering methods. If you can’t part with your grass and garden, to pursue more water-wise landscaping, you should definitely consider rotating sprinkler nozzles. They apply water more slowly and uniformly, which prevents misting and over-watering (this also promotes better growth of your plants). Rotating sprinkler nozzles use 20 percent less water than conventional spray heads and you can get rebates starting at $4 per rotating nozzle. Keep being beautiful and water-wise, San Diego!