Go Green with Environmentally-Friendly Plumbing Practices
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by: BrianLeMaire | Total views: 307 | Word Count: 565
A typical American home uses approximately one-hundred gallons of water per day, and according to the 2007 census, there are over one-hundred and eleven million households in the U.S. So, making some of the smallest changes to your own plumbing system can not only save you money now, but a potentially significant amount of money over time. And if everyone made these changes it would make a huge positive impact on the environment.
A leaking faucet isn't just annoying, it also costs you money. Fixing it keeps your money from going down the drain. Roughly twelve and a half gallons of a household's water use is attributed to faucet, toilet, and pipe leaks. A dripping faucet can waste up to seventy-four gallons a day, a leaking toilet up to two-hundred gallons a day. A quick repair by you or your plumber now, will save you money in the long run.
Bottled or tap: A water filtration system attached to your faucet (or free-standing) can purify enough water to fill up more than 3,000 disposable plastic water bottles every year. Globally, 38 billion disposable plastic water bottles are thrown out every year. Cutting down on the use of these disposable bottles also reduces crude oil dependency -crude oil by-product is used in plastic water bottle manufacturing, approximately 17 million barrels of oil are used every year just to meet America's demands for these plastic water bottles. Buy a reusable bottle and fill it with water you filter yourself, you'll save money and the environment.
Graywater (or greywater) systems: A safe and easy way to collect and filter the water used by faucets, dishwashers, and washing machines, and reuse it for non-potable (non-drinking water) purposes --cutting back on your home's water consumption. The system recycles water, to water plants for example, reducing your use of fresh, potable water. It also cuts down the amount of water going into your community's sewage system instead of the soil.
When leaky pipes can't be repaired because of too many pinhole leaks or another systemic problem, what can you do? Traditionally the solution has been to replace your plumbing system -to repipe, but that means cutting walls open and tearing out pipes. So not only are you throwing away the old pipes and the drywall that had to be removed to get at them, but then you need to replace them with new pipes and drywall. Manufacturing these new materials has an environmental impact.
Leaky pipes: What happens when your leaky pipes are so full of pinhole leaks or can't be repaired and need to be replaced? A repipe, or pipe replacement, involves cutting open walls and removal of the affected pipes. Not only does this mean you're throwing away drywall and old pipes, but you're using new drywall and pipes, each with its own manufacturing toll on the environment.
An alternative to wasting pipes and drywall is epoxy pipe lining -- CuraFlo's epoxy pipe lining system is an environmentally friendly alternative to repipe. It takes less time than pipe replacement and generally costs less. Pipes are cleaned out and epoxy lined through connections to your existing plumbing fixtures and valves, nearly or completely eliminating the need to cut open walls. And best of all, epoxy lining your pipes can prevent erosion and corrosion damage to your pipes that led to the need for repair or replacement in the first place.
About the Author
Brian LeMaire is President of CuraFlo and has been in the plumbing maintenance industry since 1981. He is a State registered plumbing contractor in Ohio. Find out more about pipe leaks and discover what to do about Manhole lining
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