Water Conservation at Home

It looks like there's a new eco-friendly label in town to help consumers when it comes to water conservation. WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) helping to make it easier for Americans to save water and protect the environment.

The WaterSense logo is a green and blue water drop, and can be found on faucets, toilets, washing machines or any other appliance which uses water. Similar to the Energy Star label, using a WaterSense appliance or product can greatly reduce your monthly water bill and more importantly, it's a step toward helping to reduce your impact on the environment. The WaterSense label provides a reliable mark to help consumers identify products that save water and perform well. Unlike many other eco-labels, the WaterSense label is backed by third-party certification in order to ensure that every product that bears the label has met EPA's criteria for both water efficiency and performance. Any product that bears the WaterSense label has been independently tested to use about 20 percent less water and perform as well as or better than conventional models.

Water shortage
The program is relatively new, so many consumers and professionals seem to still be unfamiliar with it. But as the green building movement grows more momentum, we need to look at the total green home package. While water conservation usually falls low on a homeowner's list when it comes to their green choices, it is just as important. As a growing number of regions across the country are faced with looming water shortages, municipalities and residents in those areas will need to find more efficient ways to conserve.

Many municipalities today have already begun discussing charging more for water usage. Currently, prices are kept low to ensure all residents have access to this vital source. But over the past few years due to heavy drought in certain regions of the country, some cities have begun setting limits for the amount of water used in a particular home, and charging at a higher rate once that limit has been reached.

This is the situation facing Atlanta's northern and western suburbs, where regional water wholesaler Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority increased rates by about 50 cents per thousand gallons in October. Atlanta communities had cut back water use significantly in response to a record drought in the region that started in 2007.

Water budget tool
In addition to identifying appliances that are water-efficient, the EPA has released a spreadsheet called the water budget tool to help builders and landscapers determine some factors to improve water usage in and around a home. What I like about the spreadsheet is that it is easy to use. What I don't like is that homeowners and possibly some professionals will not have access to the data needed for their local area. For example, to calculate your landscape water allowance (LWA) for a site, you need to know your grass reference evapotranspiration in inches per year. This means knowing how much water will evaporate through your grass in the course of the year. At this point, I think county extension agents may be flooded with calls asking for LWA data for their area.

Regardless of the complex calculations, you don't have to be a professional landscaper, home builder or inspector to surf the WaterSense Web site. The site provides a great deal of information for the average consumer, as well as items for kids and educators.

As green building initiatives take hold, water conservation will soon play a vital role in shaping the development and construction of modern homes. Even with the recent downturn in home sales, the demand for more eco-friendly homes is not going away anytime soon.

Frank Schulte-Ladbeck, Professional Real Estate Inspector

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