With all this talk of changing our relationship to rivers and water, it would be a sad, sad thing if the author of this Project did nothing herself to change her way with water- knowing how the pipes in our homes are connected to rivers and all. And so, in a humble way, I began the ‘retrofitting’ of my cozy little one bedroom apartment.

The beauty is, it didn’t take much time or much money to save about 27 gallons a day of water. Think of what a gallon of water looks like. And imagine 27 next to each other. That’s a good amount of water. Water that can stay in a river. Nurture plants and fish and wear down rocks. At the very least can be put to better use- used wisely in a garden or for growing food.

Because I live in a great city, the aerator I put on my bathroom sink and the shiny new showerhead I replaced my old water-guzzler with, were free- provided by the City of SF’s Water Conservation program to all city residents. And friends, the showerhead is even a nice one. See, they got all smart and designed showerheads and faucet aerators that have less water coming out of them and at the same time, have great water pressure thanks to air.

After learning more about water use in the house, it’s pretty obvious that showering and flushing the toilet are the

biggest water-users. Replacing your showerhead with a well designed water-efficient model is a no brainer and ranges anywhere from cheap to free depending on where you live.

Toilets are a bit of a different story. If you have old toilets, chances are they use anywhere from 3.5 to 5 gallons or more a flush. Kinda crazy. The best thing you could do is replace your old toilets to High Efficiency models that use 1.28 gallons per flush. That is costly, for sure. Though, in many cities (including San Francisco) you can get rebates to pay for toilets or washers that are water-efficient. And you will save money on your water bill.

So what about apartment-dwelling, landlord-having people such as myself? First, you can do the dye test. Put a few drops of food coloring in the back of your toilet after it fills up after a flush and see if the dye comes into the toilet bowl. If it does, the black rubber thing at the bottom of your toilet tank, the flapper, is leaking and needs to be replaced. Cheap and easy.

Other than that, depending on where you live, there might be incentives and programs to help you or the owner of your house pay for high-efficiency toilets. Nothing like a little call to the ol’ landlord dangling an idea that will save them money on their water bill. And the beautiful thing about installing a new toilet or an efficient showerhead in your house is that long after the people who care about saving water are gone, the appliances remain, saving gallon after gallon.

For San Franciscans, check out Water Conservation programs at sfwater.org. One of the best services in the city is free Water Wise Evaluations. A trained conservation specialist comes to your home, reviews your water usage, and provides you with free aerators and efficient showerheads! Take advantage! Also listed on the website is info about rebates and other water-saving tips and programs.

For San Diegans, visit your Water Department’s page for conservation info including rebates, facts about graywater and rainwater harvesting, and also FREE Residential Water Surveys, just like SF’s.

And for you folks who live in the rogue and scandalous city of Los Angeles, check in with water conservation to see what’s going on!

Special thanks to Al at the SFPUC for showing me the ropes!