We have been working with a client who owns a seasonal rental house at the beach in Delaware. Their primary goal is to reduce operating and maintenance costs – especially during the summer months. In the short term they want to achieve savings with a very small budget and without changing the tenant experience. After reviewing and testing the property a laundry list of improvements/changes was developed that ran the gamut from aerators to insulation. The client decided to start very slow so that incremental changes could be measured without sub-metering the utilities.
In 2011, the focus was water usage. So far over the year there has been an optimistic 11% reduction in water consumption (which affects both the water and sewer bills). So how did the reduction in water happen? Simple. By replacing aerators and shower heads with WaterSense, low-flow elements!
Immediate savings on a modest total investment. For this project we used Neoperl aerators, a Delta Ecoflow showerhead outside and Waterpik Ecoflow Showerheads inside, all from Home Depot, for a total investment of $139.69. To date the total savings is $4.34 for water and $102 for sewer for a total savings of $106.34 in 7 months. This is on track for a one year payback with no comment or complaint from the tenants.
What is next for water? This fall the client plans to install of a high efficiency washer, retrofit the toilets to operate as dual flush and install a rainwater catchment system for the outdoor shower and irrigation. The washer represents a high dollar investment but should result in a significant reduction in consumption. If, as the EPA estimates, a standard washer represents 16% of household water consumption, then the savings could be another 10-15% reduction in water and sewer usage.
This case shows that simple changes can often lead to big results – now there are no excuses not to do the same thing at your home.
