Why should we save water?

Outside of the obvious fact that we need water to survive, there are other pressing issues tied to water consumption. The most direct issue is the water/energy relationship.

Water efficiency cuts energy costs by reducing the amount of water that must be treated, heated, cooled and distributed throughout buildings. Hot water heating accounts for 15% of building’s energy consumption. For this reason, water conservation that reduces the amount of hot water necessary, such as for showers and sinks, also conserves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, significant amounts of energy are required to treat water and wastewater and pump it around cities. In fact, 15-25% of an average city’s energy bill is related to the treatment and transport of water and wastewater. The American public water supply and treatment facilities consume about 56 billion KWH each year, enough electricity to power five million homes for an entire year (LEED EBOM reference guide/US EPA).

So what does all this mean?

Simply stated, reducing water consumption also helps combat global climate change by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases that must be produced to supply our homes and buildings with water.

Using less water = producing less greenhouse gases.

It is that straightforward. By reducing household water use you can not only help reduce the energy required to supply and treat public water supplies but also can help address climate change. In fact, if one out of every 100 American homes retrofitted with water-efficient fixtures, we could save about 100 million kWh of electricity per year -avoiding 80,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. That is equivalent to removing nearly 15,000 automobiles from the road for one year!

If one percent of American homes replaced their older, inefficient toilets with WaterSense labeled models, the country would save more than 38 million kWh of electricity – enough to supply more than 43,000 households electricity for one month.