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Make the Next Bathroom Remodel a Water-Efficient One
By Stephanie Thornton, EPA WaterSense Program
Selling clients on the benefits of remodeling a bathroom is easy. Most home owners already know that remodeling a lackluster bathroom is a surefire way to increase a home’s value.
Numbers are on their side, too. According to the 2007 Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report, the average nationwide return on investment for a bathroom remodel is 78%, one of the highest in the home.
But, when talking to clients about a bathroom remodel, go one step further and sell them on a water-efficient bathroom.
It makes sense for them, for you and the environment ? and WaterSense, EPA’s voluntary water-efficiency labeling program, can help close the deal.
Toilets account for 27% of the water used indoors in the average home. Showers and faucets account for another 33%. Together, that’s nearly two-thirds of the water used in the house.
Replacing outdated, water-guzzling plumbing fixtures with efficient products is a simple way to help home owners reduce water consumption.
In fact, by offering a high-efficiency bathroom remodel with WaterSense-labeled fixtures, you can help a client save more than 11,000 gallons and about $70 on water bills annually.
Saving Water Saves Energy
Saving water also means saving energy. As energy costs continue to rise, home owners will appreciate knowing that retrofitting bathroom sink faucets with WaterSense-labeled faucets can cut their annual electrical use by 70 kilowatt-hours. That’s enough to power a hair dryer for eight minutes a day for a full year.
The WaterSense label identifies products that not only save water and the energy used to heat it, but that offer superior performance as well.
To earn the WaterSense label, products must undergo independent, third-party testing to ensure that they meet EPA’s criteria for efficiency and performance. More than 145 toilets and 50 bathroom sink faucets and accessories have earned the label to date.
 No Need to Flush Like It’s 1999
The high-efficiency WaterSense-labeled toilets of today are not the ill-performing low-flow toilets of the early 1990s. Double-flushing and clogging are no longer issues.
New technology and design advancements, such as pressure-assisted flushers and modifications to bowl contours, enable today’s high-efficiency toilets to perform much better than their predecessors.
Today’s WaterSense-labeled toilets meet stringent flushing standards and thoroughly satisfy drain line requirements.
To find WaterSense-labeled plumbing fixtures, visit the WaterSense Web site. Also, search for WaterSense retailer and distributors on the Web site’s Meet Our Partners page.
Many manufacturers also sell WaterSense-labeled products online.
For more information about WaterSense and a full list of labeled products, visit www.epa.gov/watersense.
Stephanie Thornton is the partner outreach coordinator for EPA’s WaterSense program. For more information, e-mail Thornton at the EPA (thornton.stephanie@epa.gov).
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