With more than 50% of the United States experiencing some level of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor as of Jan. 17, 2024, it’s increasingly important that people think about how they use their water resources. Although homes aren’t the only source of water waste, they can be a pretty big one, and if you also live in a drought-prone area, the way you manage water in your home matters.
Do you know what to look for in a water-efficient home?
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Where We Waste the Most Water
Going about your day, you probably don’t think twice about the water you use. Whether that’s flushing the toilet, running the dishwasher or watering the plants, every extra drop of water you use in your home is one that your area may need during a drought. With long-term droughts occurring across the nation, it matters when we waste. But where do we waste the most water?
“The bathroom tends to waste the most water since most daily routines start and end in that space, causing a significant amount of waste,” says Emily Martis, group product manager for Smart Kitchen and Bath at Moen in Berea, Ohio. “From taking long showers, the toilet running and being flushed consistently, faucets being left on for brushing your teeth, shaving and washing hands, the water usage for the household adds up very quickly.”
But water waste can be anywhere, and if you’re trying to make your home more efficient, it may pay to monitor your home’s water usage more closely. If you’re considering selling your home and you’re in a drought-prone area, this can help you make valuable upgrades before you put it on the market, and if not, you’ll see huge savings on your water bill.
“By monitoring water usage, homeowners can easily see where they are wasting water in the different areas of the home, so they can find ways to remedy their habits,” Martis says. “For example, if you’re overwatering the lawn, you can invest in upgrading to smart sprinkler controllers and add smart wireless soil sensors to get an accurate read on each zone for precise watering habits while automatically factoring in restrictions within drought-prone locations.”
What to Look for In Water-Efficient Homes
If you’re shopping for a home that’s water-efficient, you have to look at the whole package, not just the bathroom. There are so many ways that water can be wasted, especially in a drought-prone area, that it can be overwhelming.
“There are two areas that I would suggest buyers look for water efficiency: inside and outside,” says Neil Brooks, a real estate agent with My Home Group and an agent within the Veterans United Realty Network in Scottsdale, Arizona. Although that might not sound like sage advice at the outset, it highlights the many places that water efficiency can be improved.
Brooks recommends choosing homes with equipment like hot water recirculating systems or instant hot water pumps, newer water-saving appliances, dual flush toilets, drip irrigation systems and pools with covers. He advises buyers to steer clear of water softeners and reverse osmosis systems since they can use a lot of water that ends up going to waste.
This advice is useful for homebuyers and homeowners, since anyone can make adjustments to make homes more efficient in these areas. And, whether you’re buying or simply need help rooting out inefficiency, a home inspection can make a huge difference.
“The home inspection will uncover inefficient appliances, water leaks and more,” says Brooks. “As part of that inspection, the buyer should get a copy of the previous 12 months of utility bills, including the water bill, to get a clear picture of the water situation with the house. But home inspections are for more than just new homebuyers; sellers should also conduct one.”
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What About Grass and Landscaping?
For many people, their first thought when it comes to water efficiency is to remove their grass, plants and other things that need regular watering. The problem is by removing the grass and plants in your yard, you’re removing protection from the sun, which can increase the heat in the yard and lead to more evaporation and higher air conditioning use, which isn’t a better deal for the environment overall.
“What people forget is that plants and grass are a cooling agent to the soils and the things around us,” says Kody Ketterling, founder and landscape expert at K-IT Products in Twin Falls, Idaho. “If you remove the grass around your house and just have a yard that’s rock or cement, it’s going to be anywhere from 15 to 30 degrees warmer all the time. Instead of doing that, you can be more efficient with your sprinkler usage. Having an irrigation expert look at your setup can reveal inefficiencies with the timer or sprinklers you’re using. Smart controllers can reduce your water usage significantly by watering based on your lawn’s needs and the weather conditions.”
Another tip Ketterling gives his clients is to mow their lawns higher than they might think is necessary. His company cuts grass at a 3-inch height in the summertime to reduce evaporation, which he says can reduce water use by as much as 20%. He also recommends adding pressure regulators to hose bibs, which can additionally reduce the water your hose uses from 30 to 40 gallons per minute to just 15 to 25, depending on the regulator you install. It will still provide the water you need without wasting the water that you don’t.
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Is it Worth Investing In a Water-Efficient Home?
If you already live in a drought-prone area, a water-efficient home can more than pay for itself when it’s time to sell. Being on a municipal water source is also incredibly helpful.
“Water efficiency does impact the value of homes in my area, especially a home on a private or shared well,” says Brooks. “Homes on a well are more challenging to sell because of the uncertainty of the continued flow of water. We’ll go dry in Arizona, and you can’t guarantee that you’ll strike water by drilling a new well.”
In other parts of the country, a water-efficient home may be ahead of its time, but as droughts get longer and worse, you may find significant benefit in bad years from having a water-efficient home. Other tools, like leak detectors, serve double-duty, ensuring that leaks are caught quickly to save water and prevent serious damage inside walls.
Smart leak detectors, Martis explains, work in the background all the time, constantly checking the pressure of the water system to ensure all is as it’s expected to be. If the pressure drops unexpectedly, these devices can alert you to a problem immediately, so you can address the issue. Some types of water monitors even monitor your water usage and automatically shut off in case of an issue. It’s a lot of useful data for a homeowner who is looking to improve their water usage.
With all the talk of energy-efficiency in homes right now, we tend to forget about water. But water is vital to our survival as a species, and it’s getting harder and harder to find in some areas. The time to prepare for a drought is long before one hits.
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What to Look for in a Water-Efficient Home originally appeared on usnews.com
