Ben Franklin wrote, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” The new addendum should be, “and the rising cost of water.” USA Today, The Oregonian, ValleyCrest Takes On and now Fast Company have taken notice, attributing the water rate increases to aging infrastructure and the rising cost of energy. Regardless of the reasons, water rate increases have us all feeling squeezed whether it be your personal family income or property management budget. The good thing is, there is something you can do about it.
Water-saving solutions
The infographic below presents a quick picture of just how much a variety of water management solutions can improve water use efficiency on your property and in turn, protect you from having to pay more and more year-over-year to your local water agency. Given water rate increase projections for many cities across the US, we all need to be implementing smarter water-use solutions just to keep our water bill from going up.
Aging water infrastructure isn’t just a public problem
A colleague brought up an interesting point in a conversation on water management last week. He compared our irrigation system to car maintenance. We all think about putting a little money into savings each month to account for ongoing issues we might have with our vehicles. For some reason, most of us don’t think about our irrigation systems in the same way. Many of our irrigation systems have costly leaks or outdated equipment that add up to A LOT of water waste every year. In today’s water rate environment, we can’t afford to turn a blind eye any longer.
Please take a moment to comment below if you have tried any of the water saving solutions noted in the infographic, or if you have other ideas you can share for reducing your water footprint.
