We got our first water bill the other day. I nearly swallowed my tongue to see it was $160 for 17 days. Then I noticed that $80 of it was a deposit. That helped take the edge off a bit.
Still, $80 is awfully high considering I barely got to use the toilets for most of that time, and I’ve now taken a grand total of 4 showers and one bath here.
I know part of it is the contractors’ presence . Between the tilers and the painters, there was a lot of rinsing of 5-gallon buckets. Still, I’m definitely feeling proactive about water conservation.
The first step is getting some diffusers for the faucets. The guest house needs a new faucet completely, and I’m urging Nadine to get one with a pull-out sprayer. I found one for $35 — which usually gets you only the plainest of faucets — plus some cash back from Mr. Rebates.
We use the showerheads with different settings, which are diffusers in and of themselves. We got one at Tuesday Morning for $12, so they don’t have to be too expensive.
We’ll save a lot of water since we won’t garden much. We don’t want a lawn, which is a biggie. I also only want to buy plants that are native to the area and so don’t need a lot of water. The one exception will be vegetables, but I only plan to grow a small number. Also, those will be in containers; so the water has to stay put.
I already turn the water off when I brush my teeth; and we only run full loads in the dishwasher. So that just leaves the toilets.
In the past, I’ve used 1-liter bottles of water to cut down on gallons used per flush. That reduces each flush by about a quarter of a gallon. Nothing to sniff at, but I’m not sure what the current toilets’ capacities are.
According to the guy at Home Depot, any post-1995 toilet is 2 gallons or less. Before that, they could easily be three gallons or more. That’s quite a difference.
I am going to get out my tape measure in the next couple of days and try to get a rough estimate of the tanks’ capacities. Depending on those results, we may be buying toilets in the near future. I saw some $98 toilets with very respectable stats, so that’s always a good option.
It will be cheaper to just buy new toilet tanks, and I haven’t crossed that off the list of possibilities. But we’re already planning on replacing the toilet seats and lids, so the savings may not be as impressive. In the end, I think it’ll come down to the relative difficulty of replacing a tank versus a toilet. I feel like the former would be more difficult, but I haven’t done any research yet.
So those are the solutions I’ve come up with so far. Anyone have other ideas?
Elizabeth says
Instead of just a 1 liter bottle, you could use either two 1-liter bottles, or something of larger capacity, depending on what fits in the tank without getting the way of the tank workings. Growing up, everyone had a full gallon in their tank. I've also heard of people using something the size of a brick (perhaps even an actual brick). Basically, anything waterproof works, just fill with sand or water.
Abigail says
Elizabeth,
I am considering two 1-liter bottles. Depending on how much it holds now, I'm just concerned about flushing power. If it's a 2 gallon tank, that would take it down to 1.5 gallons, which might be fine or might cause a very unpleasant learning experience!
Julie says
I'm all for water conservation, but I think you might be overreacting a little bit for now. Who knows what those contractors are doing with your water? I'd wait to have a "normal" month before taking any drastic measures.
Abigail says
Julie,
Maybe I am overreacting, but I think overall it's a good goal anyway. Besides, once Tim's parents get here, we'll have four people home all day, every day. So my guess is that our bill will be pretty unpleasant most months.
Christina says
I think that water conservation is important, especially here in the desert, so I don't want to say anything that deters your efforts. However, I think you would be most benefitted by saving water for the sole purpose of saving water, rather than thinking of it to save money. I lived in Scottsdale when I first moved to the valley, and now live on the far west side (with a few stops in between) and every water company we've had has enforced a minimum use policy in their billing. I have NEVER, not once, gone over the minimum amount that they bill me for usage, and we do water our back and front lawns year-round. My bill stays within $2 each month no matter what.
You may not be on the same type of plan, but I'd still wager to guess that the majority of your water bill goes to trash, recycling, and about a million small fees and taxes rather than to actual water consumption.
But, saving water is still very important and I'm glad you're looking into all the ways to go about it. We switched to a tankless water heater, installed a new dishwasher, and installed dual flush toilets to help with water usage.
Abigail says
Christina,
Good to know that there's a minimum charge. I've never had experience with that sort of thing — and it might have been very discouraging. Though with 4 people home all the time, I doubt that's an issue we'll have to worry about.
You're right: Conserving water is just generally a good goal and something that I want to be responsible about. And saving money is, I suppose, more of a way to motivate myself to get things done NOW rather than later.
That said, perhaps I'll be more inclined to try the bottles-in-the-tank method and see where that gets us.
By the way, what IS the minimum per month? This month we used 5 units at 748 gallons per unit.
Annemarie says
I grew up in Phoenix, and have spent a lot of the last six years there; electricity was my most expensive bill. Which seemed strange considering so much water had to be brought in from elsewhere.
Ten years ago, my dad put in the water-saving toilets, and found that they usually had to be flushed twice, since not everything went down. So to speak. They ended up only flushing when it was absolutely necessary. Kind of nasty, but it did save water. Though I don't know if you'll be able to convince your in-laws of the virtues.
Abigail says
Annemarie,
Yean, if I get low-flow toilets, I'm definitely getting one with a very high flushing power. But I think first we'll try some of the simpler (cheaper) methods like the bottles in the tank.
Carol says
The one and only time I tried the bottle in the tank ploy, I came home to find the bottle had shifted, knocked the flapper off its seat, and the toilet was running continuously. If you go this route, be careful.
spiffikins says
Growing up, we had a brick in every toilet tank – they don't shift around, and work fine.
In California, all showerheads and toilets must be "low flow" – toilets are 1.6 gpf and 2.2 gpm for showers. When I bought my house, one of the toilets was not low flow, and as part of the purchase transaction, this was reported to the water district – and I had 90 days to get it replaced with a compliant toilet.
I honestly don't know how much water my house uses – water usage has been part of the Homeowner's Association fees since I moved to California 11 years ago – we don't get individual bills.
Cynthia says
I guess I'm the only one so far to encourage you to buy new toilets. The new ones nowadays flush extremely well compared to ten years ago, and the water savings is significant. New toilets are not easy to install, but my unhandy husband has been able to replace three over the years without any problems. Also, given your in-laws ages and her mobility issues, you need to condider a comfort height toilet for them. It will be a little more expensive, but will give her a better quality of life. I have mobility issues myself and those toilets he replaced for me have made a lot of difference. If you are going to replace flooring, install the new toilets then, when the old ones have already been taken up.
Abigail says
Cynthia,
I think we'll definitely look into the low-flow toilets for financial and eco-friendly reasons. But I think we'll wait a couple months to see how much water we're using with all four people. Also, to save up the $300-ish to replace the things.
I'm glad you mentioned the comfort height thing, though. I'm wondering how that will work for her. Depending on how it does work, I think that may be the first toilet we replace. I'm glad to know it makes a difference and isn't too much more.
Guest says
You could also check if there are any leaks anywhere. We had an outdoor sprinkler line break and we didn't notice until we got a bill that was higher than normal. If you haven't already, check for wet spots outdoors (especially under hose nozzles) or yellow used-to-be-wet stains on ceilings and under sinks.
TEN says
Each unit is 100 cubic feet. (One cubic foot is 7.48 gallons.)
I use about 7 units every three months in a low-cost water state ($1.945 per unit). My bill is ~$30 per quarter. Less than half of that is for the water usage. The rest is fixed costs. I live by myself in a condominium. This take 1-2 showers per day, but don't use any outside water.
christina says
I just checked our most recent bill and our minimum water usage charge is for 7000 gallons.
Donna Freedman says
My dad just replaced the upstairs toilet. As the first guest to use it, I can safely vouch for the comfort-height concept. It's also a very low-flow model. Party!
Donna Freedman says
Update: The comfort-height toilet he installed uses 1.6 gallons per flush. He said that the toilet plus the new sink cost $300 total. Of course, he wasn't using frugal hacks such as Mr. Rebates or discounted gift cards….
jestjack says
I'm cheaper than most …. BUT definitely swap out the toilets. As you pointed out Home Depot has some pretty nifty toilets in the $100 range some that use 1.24 gallons per flush or less. So if your old ones consume 3.5 gallons and the new ones use 1.24….that's a savings of 2.26 gallons per flush…times 10 flushes per day …times 30 days…that's a savings of 678 gallons per month. In addition check with local goverment to see if there are incentives to "go green"…. many municipalities offer rebates or tax credits. Good Luck!
Kate says
Also, you might consider a dual-flush toilet – a bit more expensive to buy, but well worth it in terms of the long-term water & money savings.