Rain, Rain, Go Away, But While You're Here....

 ...can you do me a few favours?

It's a rainy Friday here in Durham, which normally would get people a little down, but at the Green Horizon office we smile and start thinking of all the gallons of rainwater that our clients are harvesting in their cisterns and catchments, reducing thier water bills.

If you aren't ready for a rainwater harvesting system, you might still want to consider reducing water consumption, both because it's good for the environment and good for your pocket book. The EPA sponsored WaterSense program is a good place to start. 

Since 2006, WaterSense has been working with governments at both the federal and local levels to address improved methods of water conservation and better usage of this resource. The effort doesn't just stop there.

For any measure to be effective, average people like you and me, as well as the product manufacturers, have to come on board to produce both a market and a need.

WaterSense has four objectives, which are:

1. To decrease non-agricultural water use indoors and out by more efficient practices and products
2. To educate the populace to make better choices regarding plumbing products and lifestyle changes to conserve water
3. To encourage manufacturers to make a difference by improving the products they make 
4. To establish the ground rules for standards that require the best quality in products while using water the most efficiently

WaterSense sets standards for not only the plumbing fixtures in your home, but the irrigation systems in your yard and the utilities that bring water into your home.  The program is broad enough to address every water use issue.

It is a major undertaking to produce any change in the way the majority utilizes a natural resource, and the only way that WaterSense works is if we support the program.

This may mean that some approved products are going to cost more money than the inferior or resource wasting ones we are accustomed to purchasing, but they also payoff in their long range usage with utility savings and water conservation.

Builders who follow the strict conservation guidelines and use only products bearing the WaterSense seal of approval can have the homes they build certified, and anyone shopping for a new home should look for that certification before investing in one.

For the present homeowner, it might not be possible to replace every plumbing fixture at one time, but any substitution product should bear the approval of WaterSense.  Keep the name in mind as it is becoming more and more the standard by which all water services are designed and judged.