Reducing Your Water Consumption

Public concern over climate change and resource consumption has made the environment a top priority for the nation. One of the primary concerns is water consumption and use. As the demand for water increases and supply decreases, it is imperative that businesses and consumers reduce their water consumption.

For property managers this can be a blessing in disguise. Property managers are uniquely positioned to make an impact on both their bottom line, and the greater good.

If you are serious about reducing your water consumption both inside and outside your building, here are some potential solutions.

Saving Water Inside
Residential communities should utilize tried and tested ways to reduce their water use. The first place to look is the most obvious: the faucet.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), faucets account for more than 15 percent of indoor, household water use—more than 1 trillion gallons a year. Old or leaky faucets can lead to a lot of wasted water over time, which is why it is important to make sure that faucets are fitted (or retrofitted) with faucet aerators.

Faucet aerators work by pumping air into the water flow, substantially reducing actual water consumption without reducing water pressure. As a consequence, routine tasks like rinsing and washing can be done with less water than a standard faucet. If you plan on installing faucet aerators, make sure you comply with federal law, which mandates that new faucets have a flow rate that does not exceed 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm).

In bathrooms, kitchen areas or maintenance and utility rooms, installing aerating faucets will pay dividends over time. You can also use high-efficiency showerheads to achieve the same effect.

Residential Common Lawn Areas
Properties that have common lawns or gardens can significantly reduce water consumption by targeting these two areas.

If you and your facilities maintenance crew are not responsible for maintaining your grounds, you should consider talking to your landscape contractor about reducing water use in the common areas.

Maintaining a lush lawn without water isn’t always easy, but it can be done.   “The key to saving water in the lawn and garden areas is to maintain healthy soil,” says Liz Fikejs, Conservation Program Manager of Seattle Public Utilities, in Seattle, Wash. Fikels suggests, adding compost to lawns in order to grow grass that requires less water.

You should also pay attention to the condition of your soil. Water does not absorb well in soil that is too compacted, according to Fikels. “The key step is to aerate in the Spring and Fall, pulling up cores of soil, making holes,” she says, adding  “that [this] allows air into the soil which is going to improve root development which requires less water.”

Once the soil is aerated, watering technique and equipment are the final two pieces of the puzzle.

Ask your grounds crew or landscaping contractor to water in the early morning or early evening, when there is less evaporation from midday sun.

Alternatively, you could use soaker hoses or drip-irrigation systems to deliver low-flow water to targeted areas.  These methods are more effective than automatic sprinklers—systems, which are high on convenience but low on efficiency since they tend to overspray the intended areas.  As a consequence a lot more water gets lost to evaporation when sprayed up into the air.
 
Getting Rewarded for Saving Water
Reducing your water consumption may seem like a thankless task, but it doesn’t have to be. A property owner and a property management company may enter into a performance contract that provides incentives to a landscape contractor for using less water. Property managers themselves may receive a percentage of the incentive in an arrangement with the Home Owners Association (HOA).

Doug Bennett, Conservation Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas, Nev., says, “Basically, the HOA goes to the property manager and says ‘We are currently using this much water.’  If you can satisfy us by finding landscapers that can save us X amount of water, here’s what we’ll do for you.”

The incentive to save water is certainly icing on the cake, but it shouldn’t be the primary motivation for you to save water. As the pressure to conserve resources mounts, the true reward will come from your ability to minimize your water use.