2600% ROI

[Alternatepriorities]

My SO and I recently moved to a remote Alaskan village where water cost 6 cents a gallon. The house we rent had a standard shower when we moved in. After a couple of water bills I ordered a 1.25 gpm Niagra for 8 dollars. We saved 300 gallons of water/$18 the first month for an annual ROI of 2600% on the water alone. We're also saving on electricty for the water heater, but that's just a bonus.

[Gretamom]

Congratulations! That's awesome.

[forummm]

Wow. I can imagine that there's a lot of room for savings here. In the rest of the country we just waste water like crazy because it's almost free. It would be fun to figure out more ways to save.

If it's yellow let it mellow. Navy showers. Turn off water while soaping. Use only the dishwasher for dishes. Use a bucket to capture all the water while waiting for the shower water to warm up. Then use that bucket to flush the toilet or drink from or for pasta water or whatever.

[meadow lark]

Excellent!  2 houses ago I was in the same situation - $.06/gallon.  We did a few hacks.  We channelled the gutters to a cistern, and plumbed it to flush the toilet and run the washing machine machine.  Obviously I wouldn't do that on a rental. But one option that won't have quite the same ROI, but you can take when you move is a portable sink that you place on the back of your toilet.  Www.sinkpositive.com .  They are a little pricey - $140 for some plastic.  But there are hacks on the Internet to diy if you like the idea.

[Alternatepriorities]

Thanks for the compliments and ideas guys!

Wow. I can imagine that there's a lot of room for savings here. In the rest of the country we just waste water like crazy because it's almost free. It would be fun to figure out more ways to save.

If it's yellow let it mellow. Navy showers. Turn off water while soaping. Use only the dishwasher for dishes. Use a bucket to capture all the water while waiting for the shower water to warm up. Then use that bucket to flush the toilet or drink from or for pasta water or whatever.

According to the USGS the average american uses 80-100 gallons of domestic water per day. We were running about 33 gallons a day before I installed the low flow shower head and averaged 28 last month. I put a quart jar in the toilet tank to reduce it's use and haven't seen any problems yet. We don't have a dishwasher and with electricity at 67 cents a kWh I suspect it wouldn't be cost effective anyway. 

[sol]

While I applaud your efforts, your math is a little suspect. 

[Alternatepriorities]

I'm happy to explain my logic of you want to double checked my math Sol.

We save 300 gallons of water the month after I installed it compared to the month before. That's 10 gallons a day which makes sense if both of us are saving a gallon a minute during a 5 minute shower. 300 gallons at $.06 a gallon is $18 saved in a month. I spent $8.23 on the shower head including shipping so I saved 219 percent of what I spent in the first month. Multiply by 12 months and it's 2600 percent return over a years then time.

[patrat]

You can do some easy and rental friendly gray water hacks. Reroute sink.drain to bucket for toilet, make clothes washer rinse water recycler, put a quarter turn water shutoff inline with shower head (easy navy shower).

At those utility rates you may see fast roi for upgrading the appliances to energy star, and reinstalling the landlord ones when you leave.

[stephan]

Great, that also inspires me now