CWLP strives to help customers get the greatest value for every dollar they spend on water service. Toward this end, the utility works to educate customers on the value of water efficiency and sponsors programs aimed at helping them improve their own water efficiency without requiring them to sacrifice comfort and convenience.
In cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “We’re for Water” campaign,
CWLP's Save Energy-Save Water Office strives to educate consumers about the importance of water efficiency and how to address the estimated more than 1 trillion gallons of water wasted from household leaks each year. CWLP is promoting simple practices and tips to help its customers find leaks and reduce water waste.
Could You Have A Leak?
Check your Water Usage on your bill to see if your winter water use is over 3 units per person (about 2,244 gallons).
How To Check, Twist & Tighten, and Replace!
• Check your faucets, showerheads, and pipes for drips. Take the toilet test and use food coloring in the upper tank - look to see if it appears in the bowl before you flush.
• Twist & tighten your faucet connections. Use a WaterSense® labeled faucet aerator to save water without changing the flow.
• Replace a fixture that is older than 10 years. WaterSense® models are tested and certified to use 20% less water!
Easy Ways To Reduce Indoor Water Use
• Check for leaking faucets and fix them immediately. Even a slowly dripping faucet (one drop every 15 seconds) can waste close to 150 gallons of water a year.
• Equip your faucets with aerators that reduce water use without creating a noticeable difference in flow. The CWLP Energy Services Office offers free low-flow faucet aerators (and other water-saving devices) to CWLP customers.
• Check for toilet leaks and fix them immediately. A bad toilet leak can easily waste well over 1,000 gallons a day. Some leaks are obvious—you can see or hear them—but others can easily go unnoticed (except on your water bill). One of the most common types of "silent" toilet leaks occurs when water from the tank continues to quietly seep into the bowl even after a flush is complete. To check for this type of leak, put a few drops of food coloring into the tank. If the coloring shows up in the bowl without the toilet being flushed, you know you have a leak. Sometimes a simple adjustment to the components inside the toilet tank can fix this type of leak.
• If you need new faucets or a new toilet, install models that carry the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) WaterSense® label. These fixtures are designed to use 20 percent less water, while performing as well as or better than standard models.
• Take showers instead of baths and limit your showers to 5 minutes or less. If you must take a bath, fill the tub only half instead of all the way full.
• Equip your showers with low-flow showerheads. And even better, make sure the new showerheads have flow restrictor knobs that allow you to easily cut off the water flow while you lather up.
• Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, turning it on only to wet your toothbrush and to rinse.
• For the most part, using a dishwasher requires less water than washing the same number of dishes by hand. But unless your dishwasher has a feature that lets it be adjusted for load size, wait until you have a full load to run it.
• When using your clothes washer, make sure you adjust the water level to fit the load.
• Try to think of creative ways to re-use water. For instance, when you shower, place a bucket in the shower with you to catch run-off water. This, as well as used bath, dish, and house-cleaning water can be used to water indoor and outdoor plants.
Easy Ways To Reduce Outdoor Water Use
• Check irrigation systems for leaks and broken parts. Replace spray sprinklers with high-efficiency nozzles that produce droplets, not a mist that can evaporate or blow away.
• When watering is needed, water early in the morning, between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. to reduce evaporation.
• Be aware that established lawns and landscapes need only about one inch of water each week.
• Install a rain sensor and remember to adjust automatic sprinkler systems following rain events.
• Switch to drip irrigation, which applies water directly to the roots of shrubs and trees.
• Use a rain barrel or underground rainwater harvesting system for your landscape watering needs.
• Reduce your lawn area and replace grass with native plants, groundcover or hardscape requiring less water.
• Set your mower blade to a higher setting to help shade roots and hold soil moisture longer.
• Add mulch to help plants retain moisture.
• Locate sprinklers so they are not watering the sidewalk or street.
