So here we go, the simple mans math to saving 5 Billion Gallons of water every year in Marin. Bear with me as this is the first time I’ve laid out these numbers without napkins and scratch paper. And remember, this is meant to get people talking, so if you disagree with my numbers please leave a comment. Our goal is for these numbers to be realistic and in that vein I have kept my equations on the conservative side. These numbers are also based on the latest census info which says we have 110,000 households in Marin and about 250,000 people. I’ll layout the base numbers first and the explanations will follow. (Something to keep in mind while you look this over, 5 billion gallons of water conserved on a yearly basis breaks down to over 13.5 million gallons of water every day. That nearly matches the output for the “top of the line” desalination plant they have proposed to build (15 million gallons per day)which they have not even figured out the cost to build or maintain. Now for them to build a 5 million gallon per day desalination plant the initial estimate is 400 million dollars, I’ll say that again 400 million dollars, plus the continued operating cost, not to mention that the plant would be the largest single energy user in the county. Now, for that same amount of money we could put in place every single one of the upgrades mentioned below and save 5 Billion gallons of water every single year forever. Hmmmmm……..)

To view this and other posts by Paul Guzman click here.

1A: A (Clean) Toilet Hack

Potential water savings: Up to 18 gallons per day, per person.

How to easily reduce the water wasted by every flush.

Toilets waste tons of water every year. When you flush, that’s about five or six gallons right there if you have a conventional toilet, and on average we each flush six times a day. Thankfully, there are now all sorts of products to lessen gallons per flush. There are low-cost add-ons like the Toilet Tummy or the British-made Hippo the Water Saver. You can also purchase a dual-flush toilet, which can save up to five gallons per flush by offering one kind of flush for each bodily function. But the lower-tech and less-well-heeled among us might want to try this easy and free hack.

1B: A (Dirty) Toilet Hack

Potential water savings: Up to 36 gallons per day, per person.

How to forgo water altogether, without a flush.

Most of the readers of the Urban Homestead blog, a guide to self-reliant city living, buy in to the lifestyle strategies of authors Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. Except one: composting your own feces. “It horrifies most people,” Knutzen admits. For Knutzen, an adherent of “humanure” guru Joseph Jenkins, the practice makes perfect sense. “Nitrogen makes plants grow,” he says. “You flush it down the toilet and create pollution in our riverways. So you are taking two valuable things and making trash.” Instead, Knutzen suggests following these five steps to composting your own solids.

View the entire guide: http://www.good.is/post/good-guide-to-reducing-your-water-use-part-1-bathroom/#/about/what_is_good