The “Water Wiser” workshop offers tips on nature conservation

In a city built on rock and surrounded by the sea, every drop of fresh water counts. Fortunately, there are simple steps every Harpswell resident can take to reduce water waste.

The Harpswell Conservation Commission recently conducted a spray course on water conservation methods as part of an ongoing series of conversations focused on the city's limited groundwater supply.

For the second part of its “Fractured Bedrock” series, the commission hosted a public workshop, “Be Water Wiser: Preserving Harpswell’s Water Supply,” on Oct. 30 at Harpswell Community School.

Speakers covered topics such as rainwater harvesting, identifying household leaks, and reducing water use by toilets, showers, faucets and appliances.

Conservation Commission Chairwoman Mary Ann Nahf said Harpswell has a long history of residents using various strategies to conserve water for domestic and agricultural use.

“We know it's not unlimited, so tonight we're going to talk about how we can preserve what we have,” she told the audience.

Commissioner Wendy Batson led a discussion focused on identifying and eliminating leaks in homes. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, leaks account for an estimated 12% of total residential water use, Batson said.

“The first rule of saving water is don’t lose it in the first place,” she told the audience.

Batson recommended that participants regularly check the interior and exterior of their home to look for common sources of leaks. She said the usual suspects are seals and valves.

“Dripping faucets, leaky hoses, worn toilet flappers – that’s generally what’s causing the leak,” Batson said.

Even a slow leak can waste large amounts of water. A showerhead that drips 10 times a minute wastes about 500 gallons a year, she said, and a leaky faucet that drips once a second wastes 3,000 gallons a year.

But the most serious and often silent leaks arise from worn toilet flush valves, Batson said. You can waste up to 950 gallons in a single week.

Leaky garden hoses are another common source of water waste, Batson added. A leaky hose can sometimes fill a 5-gallon bucket in just 15 minutes, she said.

Such leaks can usually be fixed with simple and inexpensive hardware and tools, she said. A webpage for an EPA program called WaterSense at epa.gov/watersense provides useful instructional videos.

The WaterSense website also maintains a list of currently available devices, showing how much water each model uses.

“If you need to install a new piece of equipment, you should first consider what you might want to purchase,” Batson said.

Commissioner Nancy West said a good way to check silent toilet leaks is to put a few drops of food coloring in the tank, wait about 15 minutes and then check to see if any of the color got into the bowl. She added that a new flapper valve costs less than $20.

West said most modern faucets, including toilets and showerheads, have a stamp indicating how much water they use.

Modern toilets typically use about 1.6 gallons per flush, and there are WaterSense certified units that only use about 1.3 gallons.

For older toilets, there are devices that reduce water usage per flush, West said, such as a “toilet tank bank,” a filled water bag that sits in the tank, and an “overflow fill cycle diverter” that diverts excess water out of the Tank in the bowl.

West suggested doing a YouTube search for “Retrofit Your Toilet” to find videos showing how such devices work and how to install them. Both items are inexpensive.

Fewer flushes also help conserve water, West said. She reminded attendees of an old saying: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow.” If it’s brown, rinse it away.”

A typical modern showerhead has a flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute, West said. However, there are WaterSense recommended heads that reduce the flow rate to 2 gallons per minute.

Residents can also save water by taking shorter showers or using “navy showers,” in which the water is turned off while soaping up.

“Some people suggest that if you like singing in the shower, find a short song, then sing that song and be out at the end of the song,” West said.

The first part of the lecture series focused on the origins of Harpswell's water supply and ways to help the Maine Geological Survey collect better data on local water availability and use.

The next part, titled “The Water Witches,” looks at methods of rainwater collection and storage to help residents prepare for periods of low rainfall and high water demand. The date, time and location have not yet been determined.