Ideas to Conserve Water in the Seattle Area

Environmental awareness and attitudes to the conservation of natural resources have changed significantly over the last few years and decades. What is more, the technology and methods that are now available to would-be conservationists can, even on a small domestic scale, make a significant contribution to the effort of saving water. Fresh water and drinking water may well become an even more valuable resource in the future. Therefore, a few simple steps now can help households to save a potentially precious resource, saving money at the same time.

Tips on conserving water to benefit homes and households

With help and advice from local companies such as Jim Dandy emergency plumbers, a number of beneficial water conservation techniques can be put to use. These can include apparently small actions and much larger conservation projects on a domestic scale. A few of the practical smaller steps can be carried out immediately, and the benefits may even be visible on the next water bill. Many of these steps involve ensuring that a household consumes only as much water, as it actually needs. Very frequently, additional water is used by mistake or needlessly, such as through a faucet that has been left dripping or through a toilet that flushes an inappropriately large quantity of water. Tackling these issues need not involve a large investment.

Cost benefits of saving water

A household can consume an enormous amount of fresh water each week, and this will be reflected in the utilities bill. The meter does not differentiate between water that is used for showering and water that is lost through dripping faucets, overfilled baths, or unsuitably large toilet flushes. Both intentional and unintentional water usage costs a household money.  Therefore, there can be great cost benefits to be had in checking and updating faucets, in changing to a dual-flush toilet or other modern bathroom technology, and in educating household members in how to use no more water than is necessary when bathing, cooking, or watering the garden.

Environmental benefits of saving water

There are, of course, environmental benefits as well as financial benefits to be gained from the smart use of water. For example, fresh water that is drawn from the surroundings for domestic use may deprive other elements of the environment from necessary supplies. In Seattle, this may be seen in the effect on water levels in rivers. A drop in water level in the river system can affect human uses, such as boating and fishing, as well as the natural users of the water, including fish and the other animals and plants that make up a healthy, diverse ecological river system. 

Furthermore, innovative efforts have been made to enable households to improve the quality and quantity of fresh water available to them. These efforts include the installation of domestic and neighborhood rain gardens that work to collect and filter rainwater, reducing the levels of pollution in the water. Furthermore, such rain gardens have in many cases become attractive visual features in their own right.