Cost saving Tips for Water Efficiency!
Guelph is one of the largest cities in Canada to rely solely on groundwater for its water supply. And groundwater is much less available to us then surface water. To ensure we have enough to meet our current and future needs, the City of Guelph has invested a lot into working with the community to encourage water efficiency.
The City of Guelph offers a $75 rebate to qualifying residents for the replacement of old inefficient toilets with certified water savers. Also, for those residents that are replacing their old, top loading washing machines and buying an Energy Star model, the City provides a $100 rebate. This is great news for those looking to do some renovations to their newly purchased home. We also offer rebates on furnace-mounted humidifiers (up to $70) and floor drains ($60). For those with the extreme dedication for water, the coolest rebate programs are for the installation of greywater systems or rainwater harvesting system. A list of all the rebates can be found at guelph.ca/rebates. Each program has qualifiers, and they can be found clicking through to the appropriate page.
As for everyday ways of saving water, there is a great deal of information found on Guelph Water’s website at guelph.ca/ourstoconserve. There is a community progress report video there, which has some great tips about easy ways to save. We also have an interactive digital home tour. Oh, and the Healthy Landscapes program offers free visits from horticultural and landscape professionals to those looking to reduce their outside water use, promoting water efficient and drought tolerant landscaping practices. guelph.ca/healthylandscapes has some really great material!
Some great external sites:
The WaterSense certification program (part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) provides rigorous third-party testing on water-using fixtures to ensure products are at least 20 per cent more efficient without compromising “experience in use”. Just because it saves water doesn’t mean it’s ugly! There are THOUSANDS of products tested from most of the name brands, including MOEN, American Standard, Delta. Visit epa.gov/watersense/index.html This is a great resources for saving water when purchasing new fixtures in home renos.
Water Softeners – there is very little independent information available on understanding water softeners. The City of Guelph and the Region of Waterloo have partnered on a research project, resulting in watersoftenerfacts.ca. This user-friendly website provides information on defining hard water, soft water, drinking water standards, hardness maps of the City and Region and a list of tested water softener systems – which are the most efficient (it can take a lot of water to make water). I spoke to Graham Lobban about this site – he found it useful, too.
Heather Yates | Water Conservation Program Coordinator
