Water has many beneficial uses— it’s essential for healthy human and animal life, after all! Business and industry use water, fueling our economy– while snow from our mountains and runoff to our rivers create countless opportunities for outdoor recreation in Colorado.
Leaks, however, are wasteful, unintentional and have no real value. Household leaks can waste more than 1 trillion gallons annually nationwide– that is enough water to supply Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico for more than a year. Leaks account for about 15% of indoor household water use or roughly 10,000 gallons per year.
The EPA has declared Fix a Leak Week, March 12 through 18, 2012 because leaks waste a tremendous amount of water. Fix a Leak Week is an annual reminder to check household plumbing fixtures for leaks, this week and all year long. Several cities in Colorado are sponsoring activities to celebrate Fix a Leak Week.
The City of Greeley is offering workshops on March 14 to teach citizens how to fix simple leaks in their faucets and toilets. This is Greeley’s fourth year offering these workshops– people who have attended past workshops are more empowered to repair minor, yet wasteful, plumbing problems in their own homes. Participants in the workshops will receive a free water conservation kit and will be placed in a drawing to win a new low-flow toilet.
Colorado Springs Utilities is marking the week with a special EPA WaterSense Showerhead Exchange and Open House on Saturday March 17. Replacing an old showerhead with a WaterSense head saves almost $130 each year– Colorado Springs Utilities will exchange over 2100 showerheads. The open house will also feature leak detection demonstrations, multiple water booth demonstrations, activities for kids, a recycled porcelain art contest, information on toilet recycling and a WaterSense toilet giveaway.
The League of Water Savers is offering free water conservation kits for Thornton water customers during Fix-A-Leak Week. Each kit includes toilet leak detector dye tablets, a low-flow bathroom faucet aerator and other water-saving items. One dye tablet can reveal a sneaky toilet leak that wastes up to 200 gallons of water a day. That is enough water to fill 4 bathtubs every day.
During Fix a Leak Week, Aurora will be setting up informational displays at libraries and at their municipal center. In addition to informational handouts, Aurora will have about 500 toilet leak dye tablets to give away.
Visit www.epa.gov/watersense/fixaleak for additional information on National Fix a Leak Week and information on finding and fixing leaks.
Do you know of other Fix a Leak Week activities happening in Colorado? Do you have other ideas or suggestions?
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Water leak repairs can cause a lot of damage if neglected. They cause damage to the indoor furnishing, increase water bills, make water stains on the walls and ceiling and can lead to mold growth which is dangerous for our health. They can weaken the structure of the house by corroding iron rods, beams etc. which form the structure base of a building.
That is a great point. Leaks can cause more problems than just water waste and high water bills.
We know that in various places there is scarcity of water so if we will not save water then it can be very serious issue in the future.
Water Leak Repair
This is a great article with a lot of different tips for home improvement. This fall I will be renovating my beach house. It got beat up pretty bad from a storm this summer. The biggest issue is my roof. There are some minor holes I need to take care of because I am afraid there are leaks. I did not know what route to take for leak detection so I have been asking around. I found a few options where they use digital photo services. I have never heard of this method but I am excited to try it. I know the process is going to take awhile but I am willing to wait because leaks can be a serious problems.