It has been exceptionally exciting hearing from many individuals as to how they save water and how they encourage others to pitch in as well! Mark Mahoney of Kohler Kitchen and Bath and SaveWaterAmerica pointed out some very interesting facts about water which we should all be aware of.

Mahoney notes that under one percent of the freshwater supply on Earth is readily accessible to humans, and nearly one billion human beings still do not have access to save drinking water. On top of this, Mahoney points out that it is predicted that in only four short years, by 2013, “36 states [will] face water shortages” due to the dual changes in respect to poulation growth and the possible ramifications of climate change. The average American homeowner uses approximately 70 gallons of water every day.

To reduce typical household water consumption, Mahoney suggests taking a good look at what items are using the greatest amount of  water in your home. Mahoney points out that toilets use about 25 percent of all water consumed indoors, adding up worldwide to about 1.5 billion gallons of water wasted each day by inefficient toilets.

According to the Green Toilet conservation blog, new, lower-flush toilets use about 1.6 gallons per flush, compared to 7-gallon and 3.5-gallon flush toilets typically installed in the past. This means that if you replace an  older 3.5-gallon flush toilet with a 1.6-gallon flush toilet, you’ll be using less than half of the previous amount of water. According to Mahoney, higher efficiency toilets could potentially save each individual homeowner 16,500 gallons of water annually.

Many cities and water districts are now encouraging this transition to water-saving devices by offering substantial rebates on the purchase of water-saving devices, including toilets, clothing washers and irrigation controllers.

If every individual consciously cut down on their water consumption by reducing water waste, we could go a long ways toward meeting future water needs. Using high efficiency toilets together with other water-saving devices, such as a Cyber-Rain smart sprinkler controller, can help us all conserve that most precious of resources, water! Have a water-riffic rest of Smart Irrigation Month, and  keep sending up your favorite conservation tips!

Also: if you visit SaveWaterAmerica.com and take a short quiz, Kohler will donate $1 to Habitat for Humanity, to put towards sustainable building projects (Kohler has already donated over $500,000 to the charity). What do you have to lose? Get some great conservation information and help a charity: it’s a win-win situation!