Conservation

Overall U.S. Water-Savings Estimate

If all U.S. households installed water-saving features, water use would decrease by 30%. This would save an estimated 5.4 billion gallons of water per day, resulting in daily dollar-volume savings of $11.3 million or more than $4 billion per year.

Water-efficient fixtures installed in U.S. households in 1998 alone saved 44 million gallons of water every day, resulting in total annual dollar-value savings of more than $33.6 million.

Average household water use annually: 127,400 gallons
Average daily household water use: 350 gallons

The largest daily user of water in the home is the toilet. By replacing this one product with a high-efficiency toilet (HET) you can greatly affect your total water usage.

Source: Agricultural and Biological Engineering,
The Ohio State University.

Hotels managers can use this online calculator to determine how much they can save by switching to high-efficiency toilets.

How Much Water Does Your Toilet Use?

If your toilet flushes 3.5 gal /13 liters per flush, one person can consume as much as 19.5 gal / 74 liters* per day, or 7,135 gal /27,010 liters per year.

If your toilet flushes 1.6 gal / 6 liters per flush, one person can consume as much as 10 gal / 39 liters* per day, or 3,760 gal /14,234 liters per year.

If your toilet flushes 1.28 gal / 4.68 liters per flush, one person can consume as much as 6.4 gal / 32 liters* per day, or 2,336 gal /8,877 liters per year.

If your toilet flushes 1.0 gpf/ 4 liter per flush, one person can consume as little as 5 gal / 20 liters per day, or 1,928 gal / 7,300 liters per year.
*Includes toilet leakage

Municipal-Level Programs

Some utilities often enforce and promote water restrictions through rates, municipal ordinances, federal laws and regulations and financial incentives. Typical examples include:

Financial incentives to install water-efficient toilets
Municipal ordinances allowing watering only on certain days of the week or when designated
Banning fountains unless they run on re-circulated water
Requiring homes to have low-flow showerheads faucet aerators

Federal-Level Programs

WaterSense^SM: Efficiency Made Easy

EPA watersense logo The EPA’s new voluntary water-saving program, which is called WaterSense, will bring new water-efficient toilets to market. The WaterSense program, which is comparable to the ENERGY STAR energy-saving program, includes product labeling that will inform consumers that a particular toilet is a high-efficiency toilet (HET).

The WaterSense label will be used on HETs that are certified by independent laboratory testing to meet rigorous criteria for both performance and efficiency. Only HETs that complete the third-party certification process can earn the WaterSense label. The WaterSense High-Efficiency-Toilet specification was developed to set standards for consumption and performance. However, its standards are even higher than MaP testing in that it requires minimum extraction of 350 grams with the water consumption capped at 1.28 gallons per flush. (Maximum Performance testing.)

Water-Efficient Fixtures

Federal legislation passed in 1992 requires all U.S. plumbing manufacturers and importers to meet or beat the following water-efficiency standards:

Showerheads: 2.5 gallons per minute
Faucets: 2.5 gallons per minute
Toilets: 1.6 gallons per flush

Older fixtures in many homes do not meet these standards. If yours don't, you can save water and money by replacing them.

There are many fixtures on the market that exceed the standards, while performing well. Some showerheads offer good sprays using only 1.0 to 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm). For a bathroom faucet that is used primarily for hand-washing, a 0.5- to 1.0-gpm model is more than sufficient to do the job. You'll probably want to stick with 2.0- to 2.5-gpm faucet for kitchen sinks, laundry tubs or bathrooms needing a faster spray volume for washing or filling pots for cooking, for example. For toilets, there are models available that work well with less than 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf).

Unfortunately, some 1.6 gpf toilets don't perform acceptably. Some early versions of these "ultra-low-flush toilets" introduced in the 1980s and early 1990s were particularly problematic, and some cheaper models today still aren't up to snuff.

Consumers who do their homework before purchasing a toilet, however, can easily find a satisfactory toilet that uses 1.6 gallons of water or less.

Other National Programs

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

Toilets Earn LEED Points for Homes

LEED for Homes is a voluntary rating system that promotes the design and construction of sustainable homes. A sustainable home uses less energy, water, and natural resources. As a result, it creates less waste. In addition to the environmental benefits, a LEED home will result in lower energy and water bills with life-cycle cost comparable to owning a conventional home. Click here to download a PDF with more details.