The WaterSense Current: Winter 2020

Issue LIII

In This Issue:

• Savings Are Clear in 2020
• Fall in Love With Your Shower
• DIY Your Way to Bathroom Savings
• WaterSense Search Tools Get a Makeover
• Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District Come out on Top

Savings Are Clear in 2020

Are you looking for a New Year’s resolution you can stick with? Skip the fad diets and turn your focus to saving water in 2020! With the WaterSense Resolution Checklist, finding ways to conserve water is crystal clear. Start the new decade off by taking the “I’m for Water” pledge, then follow the simple monthly water-saving actions provided for you on the checklist.

There’s a selection of tips to choose from for every season. When it’s too cold to go outside but you still want to save, start by learning how to understand your household water bill. Once you know which areas of water use you can improve in your home, you can search for local rebates for WaterSense labeled fixtures and make the switch to more efficient, high-performing showerheads, faucets, and toilets. These easy changes will save you money on your utility bills by saving water and energy. When spring’s showers subside, it’s time to spruce up your sprinklers. Inspect your irrigation system for leaks and make sure sprinkler heads are pointed toward landscapes instead of pavement.

In the warmer months, spend some time outside by curbing water waste in your garden. Select native varieties of plants, as they require less watering, and avoid watering in the middle of the day when temperatures are highest. As you prepare your landscapes for the dropping temperatures in the fall, remember to adjust your irrigation controller with the changes in weather conditions, or consider installing a WaterSense labeled weather-based irrigation controller that automatically tailors watering schedules to the weather and landscape conditions. The path to saving water in 2020 has never been more clear! Find more tips about how you can conserve water throughout the new year.

Fall in Love With Your Shower

Falling out of love with your shower? This Valentine’s Day, do something nice for yourself and your bathroom! Swap out your inefficient showerhead with a WaterSense labeled model and shower smarter by decreasing the gallons of water used without sacrificing showerhead performance. The WaterSense label ensures a shower experience that is equal to or better than what you’d get with a conventional showerhead. What’s not to love? Additionally, WaterSense labeled fixtures come in a variety of colors and finishes that will make your heart flutter.

Showering is an essential part of our daily routines, but we tend to use a lot of water and energy. In fact, showering accounts for nearly 17 percent of indoor water use. The average family uses nearly 40 gallons of water per day in the shower. All this water use means a huge opportunity to save, making WaterSense and your bathroom a match made in heaven.

Replacing your old showerhead with a new WaterSense labeled one is simple—no need to call a plumber! Just check out this WaterSense “bath hack” videofor simple installation instructions that will have you saving water and energy, which means you will spend less money on your utility bills and can spend more on your sweetheart.

Learn more about how showering better can help you save.

DIY Your Way to Bathroom Savings

Looking for a little do-it-yourself project this winter to put money back into your pocketbook? By finding and fixing easily corrected leaks in your home, you could save 10 percent on your water bill. Mark your calendar for Fix a Leak Week 2020—March 16 through March 22—the perfect time to inspect your bathroom for easy-to-fix water leaks.

One of the biggest culprits for bathroom leaks is a worn out flapper in your toilet tank. To see if your flapper needs replacing, place a few drops of food coloring in the tank of the toilet and if any color has seeped into the bowl after 10 minutes, you have a leak. Don’t forget to flush the dye down the drain after the test is done.

Replacing the flapper can be done in a few simple steps and in just a few minutes to generate big water savings without breaking the bank. Need a walk-through? No problem! Check out this toilet flapper bath hack videoto learn just what to do.

While you’re at it, tackle your bathroom faucets, too. Replacing old, inefficient faucets and aerators with WaterSense labeled models can save the average family 700 gallons of water per year, equal to the amount of water needed to take 45 showers. To install your new WaterSense labeled faucet aerator, first cover your drain to ensure nothing falls through. Then, twist off your current faucet aerator and remove the rubber washer if it happens to be stuck. Finally, twist on the WaterSense labeled aerator and you’re done!

Learn more ways to find and fix leaks as you celebrate during Fix a Leak Week or work to save water year-round

WaterSense Search Tools Get a Makeover

There are thousands of WaterSense labeled product models on the market to help you save water, as well as thousands of certified irrigation professionals to help make your landscape water-smart and healthy. Not sure where to start? Check out our new and improved online search tools to find a WaterSense labeled product, certified pro, product rebate, or program partner in your area, and start saving!

With myriad products and professionals to choose from, we’ve simplified our search tools to make it easier to find what you are looking for. Need to find a WaterSense labeled showerhead to save water and energy in the bathroom? Check out the new Product Search Tool! Or looking to be more flush with cash with a rebate for your new WaterSense labeled toilet? Try the Rebate Finder!

Maybe you are on the hunt for a certified irrigation professional to help design, install, maintain, or audit your sprinkler system to be more efficient? There’s a tool for that too. Even if you just want to know if your water utility or your favorite retailer is partnered with WaterSense, you can find a list of our partners or search your area. And all of these new and improved tools include eye-catching icons designed to make it easier to quickly locate information. Try them out today!

Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District Comes out on Top

The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District in California won its first WaterSense Partner of the Year Award last October for its promotional efforts. To reach the next generation of water users in the community, the Upper District’s “Water is Life” contest encouraged students to submit artwork that represented water as a valuable resource.

The Upper District also awarded water education grants to seven K-12 applicants who submited projects that facilitated a better understanding of water as a vital resource. Over $7,000 in grants reached nearly 1,000 students (and in turn their families) in the community! The Upper District also provided a “Water Sustainability and Water-Efficient Gardening” presentation for a community garden group that featured WaterSense information.

Throughout 2018, the Upper District hosted nine workshops, with two during March’s Fix a Leak Week in English and Mandarin to expand its reach in the community and inspire more consumers to find and fix household leaks. It conducted workshops on efficient landscaping and outdoor water use. The Upper District also hosted a Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance Workshop that drew nearly 100 attendees.

Additionally, the Upper District hosted its annual WaterFest event in 2018 and encouraged the 3,000 attendees to take a selfie with the WaterSense promotional label that helped promote the regional rebate program, SoCal Water$mart. Throughout the year, the Upper District provided commerical and residential rebates for WaterSense labeled residential toilets, flushing urinals, commercial toilets, and weather-based irrigation controllers. And to make saving water outside with WaterSense ever easier, the Upper District’s Large Landscape Survey and Retrofit program installed 142 WaterSense labeled irrigation controllers at 49 landscape sites using professionals certified by a WaterSense labeled program.