Several decades ago officials in the city of Keene, New Hampshire (population 24,000) began scouting out new sources of water. They were worried that the existing supply from two reservoirs and several wells might not keep up with projected demand
But it turned out that the new supply, which engineers said could cost many thousands of dollars to build and operate, never got built.
One reason: Local manufacturing, which ordinarily consumes a lot of water, waned.
Another reason: Household water use leveled, thanks to new efficiencies in plumbing fixtures.
Those efficiencies resulted from the Energy Policy Act of 1992, a law signed by President George H.W. Bush that mandated low-flow toilets, shower heads and faucets. The new math: 1.6 gallons per flush versus 3.5 gallons, and, for shower heads, 2.5 gallons per minute versus more than 5 gallons. (The standards had been included in the 1992 law for the energy it takes to treat and otherwise process water).
The changes came to mind the other day when President Trump said that the efficiency standards made no sense.
“You turn on the faucet, you don’t get any water, “ he told small business owners at a White House meeting. “They take a shower and water comes dripping out. It’s dripping out — very quietly dripping out. People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once. They end up using more water. So, EPA is looking at that very strongly, at my suggestion.”
The president needn’t have used hyperbole, nor need he have claimed credit for getting the government to take a fresh look at plumbing fixtures. Last year, on its own initiative and without disparagement, Congress ordered up such a review on the logic that the standards had been in place for 27 years and could benefit from an update.
Who knows what will come of that review. But it’s a fact that the U.S. hasn’t been alone in looking to the bathroom as a place to rein in water consumption.
A couple of years ago, when Cape Town faced a severe water shortage, advocates there began promoting two-minute showers; they came up with a package of lively two-minute-long songs to help with the timing.
The Cape Town crisis eventually receded, and the songs got some of the credit.
And in Ireland, a group called Global Action Plan Ireland last year encouraged people to keep their showers to four minutes to combat a drought-induced shortage. Toward that end the organization offered free shower timers to the public.
None of this is to say that water scarcity worries can be allayed principally by short showers. That’s because most water use, here and elsewhere, isn’t in the bathroom, but rather on the farm.
But water efficiency in the home does make sense, given how our use of fresh water there has changed over time. Back when outhouses were in use and there was no running water, the average American consumed only several gallons of water per day; now we’re up to around 90.
Reducing that consumption only a little can cause some politicians grief, but it’s also made a difference, including helping cities such as Keene, among others, avoid spending money on new water supplies.