The Water Challenge Chronicles – Jon, Week 5
Wow, it‚ already Week 5 of Food & Water Watch‚ Water Challenge! Searching for new ways to save water, I started taking inventory of the items in my house where I have already saved a substantial amount of water. While most of the appliances in my home are water-efficient, one remains that is not‚Äîthe toilet. Although I have been keeping a bucket of water in my shower and using that to flush, there are times that I have to resort to water from the 5-gallon tank. Since this isnt terribly efficient, I decided to research some ways to make the act of flushing less wasteful.
I found that displacing water in my tank is a great way of reducing the amount of water that it takes to flush. I grabbed two plastic one-gallon milk jugs, filled them up with water, and slowly lowered them into my tank. Due to a lapse in judgment, the first attempt created a surge of water that swooshed out of the tank. Yeah, displacement‚Äîget it? Youd think that I would have known better. Anyway, I found that the trick was to keep the handle partially pressed down as I slowly put the jugs in the tank to equalize the water level. Once both of them were in place, I noticed two things. The first was that the tank fills much faster because there is less tank to actually fill. The second was a faster flush time, due once again to the fact that there‚ less water to actually flush. Now instead of expending between four and five gallons of water per flush, I am down to about two-and-a-half to three gallons of water! Great yet another way that I am saving water in my household.
So lets recap: I wash my dishes by hand, rinse in a dishpan, and use the grey water on plants and my garden. I have replaced my showerhead with a low-flow option. I had all the leaky pipes in my house replaced. I filter my tap water, as opposed to buying bottled water from the store. I take shorter showers, and do not leave the sink running while I brush my teeth or shave.
I use run-off from the shower to flush my toilet. I have displaced water in my toilet to save additional water on flushes, and I have helped raised awareness of water conservation through my contributions to this blog!
You see– small changes really do add up. I would love to hear your comments or stories of how water conservation has changed your life.
– Jon Brown
Good job, JON!! This is something our parents did in the 1950s, put things in the tanks to save water. There was a time in this country that people really DID NOT take water for granted, due to the Oklahoma (and elsewhere) dust bowl problem in the1930s. “Don’t waste water! If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down” was a saying…and if you took a bath, we were allowed only 3 inches of water. Watering lawns is not done by locals in Humboldt County, California, way up in the coastal redwoods. The locals know who is new to the area by the mere fact that they water their lawns! “Oh, a newbie, drat. They don’t know we do not water lawns around here–ever!” The rains will green it up again..and the rivers are so depleted up there that the salmon died by the tens of thousands only three or four years ago. Shallower river flow means the water can heat up faster, and logging means the shade around the rivers disappearing, so the salmon die. People really do need to re-think their consumerism–and water is the most important issue. Coca-cola and Nestle’s are big culprits with water waste and water theft, and there are dozens of issues the kids and youngsters need to learn about..and learning what is necessary doesn’t have to be “COOL” or “CUTE” like I notice with lots of “green campaigns”–it’s dumbing down the kids every year. Ask Abe Lincoln. Ask Jack London. Ask Helen Keller, or Izzy Stone. You can tell how old I AM..olol..
Those are very environmental friendly actions. I think in our won little ways of saving, it will help our environment big. Though I think that everyone should do what they can, not just few of us.
I have used the same “displacement” method on my 1.6 Gal toilet with great success, but use a smaller 64 oz plastic juice bottle due to the smaller 1.6 gal capacity. There is a new device on the market that retrofits most toilets and provides two flushing options. ($99)
Yes, this has made a huge difference in water use, not to mention that it is a pretty universal tip, if you don’t own, and can’t replace your toilet then this is a great way to reduce your water consumption.
As far as the cooperate barons wasting our water, I tend to think that working with an organization like Food & Water Watch you can make a bigger splash (no pun intended); in the fight against corporate water consumption.
i bought a rain barrel for my apartment to catch a little rain, but mainly for all my waste water. i use a bucket in the shower to catch water while it warms up plus any extra run off the bucket catches, i put a valve on the shower head, so i can shut it off while i soap up and turn it back to rinse. i use a bucket to dump unused coffee into and to dump the rinse water from the pot, and rinse water from dishes. also again use bucket to catch water while the facuet gets to temp i want, in the summer my pipes get hot as well so while i wait for cool water i catch that water as well. and displaced water in toilet tank, and we have yellow mellow rule. i water all the plants with the waste water. i also compost, and recycle big time, even when i go places i either use my own stuff or i take it home to recycle.
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