Green Bathrooms Save Money And The Planet
(ARA) - Adding a modern bathroom addition is a smart way to increase the value of your home while protecting our natural resources. In addition to reducing your impact on the planet, installing a low-consumption toilet can cut your water bills.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), residential toilets account for about one-third of our nation's indoor household water use, or more than 2.1 trillion gallons of water a year. Because each person typically uses from 80 to 100 gallons of water per day, installing a low-flush toilet is a great way to make a local difference that can have a global effect. With this one improvement, a family of four will save an estimated 50 gallons of water each day. That's close to 20,000 gallons each year!
If your home was built prior to 1992, when the federal government began mandating low-flush toilets, your existing bathroom toilets likely use 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf). If your home dates back to the 1950s or earlier, you may have a 5.5-gpm toilet or even a 7-gpm guzzler.
Green Basement? Sure! But what if you want to add a modern, water-saving bathroom in the basement where none currently exists? The high cost of pounding through cement to install conventional plumbing lines can easily out-pace the money you'll save on your water bills.
