Conserving Water in your Single Metered Apartment Building

If you own an apartment building with a single water meter you are either including water in the rent or using a Ratio Utility Billing System (RUBS) based on some ratio, such as number of tenants and/or square footage. This means tenants do not necessarily have an incentive to save water since they're not paying for it directly.

Sub-metering:

According to the Alliance for Water Efficiency, installing water meters or sub-meters, and billing according to water usage, is the single most effective water conservation measure one can take. However, this can be a very expensive undertaking and depending on how the plumbing of your building was designed, may be impractical.

Toilets:

Studies have found that toilets are by far the main source of water use in the home, accounting for over 30 percent of residential indoor water consumption in homes with older toilets. Toilets, manufactured before 1992 use up to 3.5 gallons per flush.

Recent advancements have allowed toilets to use 1.28 gallons per flush or less while still providing equal or superior performance. This is 20 percent less water than the current federal standard of 1.6 gallons per flush.

Replacing older toilets with High Efficiency Toilets (HET) is simpler and less costly than sub-metering and requires no behavioral changes on the part of your tenants. Furthermore there are a number of rebate programs you may qualify for:

• The Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) will rebate up to $125 to eligible Santa Clara County customers for upgrading to a qualifying model High Efficiency Toilet. 
• SCVWD Toilet Rebate Program

• The Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency (BAWSCA) will rebate up to $100 to participating water district customers for upgrading to a qualifying model High Efficiency Toilet. 
• BAWSCA Toilet Rebate Program

Leaks:

The California Department of Water Resources states that water leaks account for 30% of the average household water usage. This is an easy source to go after. Bring in a real estate property inspector to find any leaks and then send the list to your favorite plumber. Besides wasting water, undetected leaks are a great way to attract subterranean termites and to rot out the subfloors in your bathrooms and kitchens.

Posters:

Another inexpensive, yet effective solution is to put up a poster in your apartment building with suggestions on how tenants can conserve water, doing their part to help during the drought. Here is a link to a poster I found on-line. Print it, laminate it and hang it up.

Water Conservation Poster for Apartment Buildings