Most of our planet is covered with water (71%), which might give us the impression that there is an endless supply. The reality is that out of the total water present on Earth, 97% is saltwater, which is unusable for our daily needs. The remaining 3% is also not entirely available to us. Only 1% can be used for our needs; the rest is frozen in glaciers around the world. Since this significantly lower amount of water must serve us and future generations, it is our duty to conserve it.

Adopting water efficient ways in our daily domestic activities not only helps the environment, by conserving fresh water, but also saves us money. One way to do so is through using water efficient toilets. Let’s see how to do it.

Ensure that your toilet is not used for dumping trash By dumping trash, like facial tissue, cigarette butts or small pieces of garbage, you waste gallons of water and heighten the risk of blockage in sewers/septic tanks. Dispose of items in recycle bins or trash cans, instead of toilets.

Have a float booster installed in your toilet tank To reduce water wasted through flushing, use an inexpensive float booster. For proper flushing, three gallons of water should be present in the tank; having too little water will lead to multiple flushes or holding the lever longer, leading to a higher amount of water going down the drain. Multiple flushes of 1.4-1.5 gallons of water will make you lose more water than a single flush of two gallons.

Use adjustable toilet flapper for water efficient flushing If you install an adjustable toilet flapper, you can control water usage in each flush, through flush rate adjustment. A single good flush with the minimum possible amount of water can be achieved, using the “minimum per flush” setting.

Install ultra-low volume (ULV) flush models Replace your old toilet with an ultra-low volume flush toilet (1.6 gallons); this will allow you to reduce your domestic water usage by 30%. According to federal regulations, the use of water per flush in new toilet models must not exceed 1.6 gallons. An alternative to installing ULV flush models is installation of a dual flush converter, which can save on average 15,000 gallons of water annually. If needed, more water can be utilized; but in a normal flush, water usage will decrease to 70%. This will save a significant amount of water and money.