IT ADDS UP, DROP BY DROP! In households without their own washing machine, the average person still uses over 45 gallons of water per day (and that’s a conservative estimate). For a property as large as LeFrak City which is home to more than 14,000 people, individual water usage totals nearly 650,000 gallons each day, adding up to nearly 24 million gallons per year. That’s not just a drop in the bucket! Conserving water goes a long way towards conserving the environment. Below are some easy water-saving tips that you can follow to do your part to conserve water. • Report a leak! A leaky faucet or toilet may not seem like a big deal, but unrepaired leaks account for an estimated 17% of household water usage. That’s a lot of wasted water, so be sure to contact Management immediately upon identifying a leak in your apartment. • Don’t take a bath, take a shower! Baths use more water than a shower, about 70 gallons to fill a tub. If you want to treat yourself to a bath, be sure to close the drain before turning the water on and only fill the tub halfway. • Shorten your shower! Every minute you shorten your shower can save up to 75 gallons per month. If every resident of LeFrak City shortened their shower by one minute, it would total a savings of over 1,000,000 gallons of water a month! • Turn off the tap! Most people leave the faucet running when they brush their teeth, shave or wash their face, but turning it off can save 70 gallons of water per month or more. Brush your teeth first while waiting for water to get hot, then wash or shave after filling the basin. • Don’t flush! Well, actually, don’t flush the toilet unnecessarily. Dispose of tissues and other such waste in the trash rather than the toilet. • Get a handle on it! If your toilet flush handle frequently sticks in the flush letting water run constantly, have it replaced or adjust it. • Fill the sink! If you do wash dishes by hand, fill the sink instead of letting the water run. It will save anywhere between 8 and 15 gallons of water a day. • Store your water! Keep drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water. • Reuse the water! There’s no reason to pour water down the drain when it can be used for something else such as watering a plant or cleaning. Water conservation saves money and helps the environment Average Household Water Usage Around the grounds You can also help conserve water by keeping an eye out for waste around the grounds. Some examples are: If you think a washing machine is inefficient, or if you see that it is actively leaking, inform Management immediately. In summer when lawns are being watered, make a mental note of the time of day you see the sprinklers going. Lawns are best watered when the sun is down to reduce evaporation. If you see lawns being watered in the middle of the day, report it to Management. Other things to report include water being used to clean walkways (instead of being swept), broken sprinklers and any other leaky or broken pipes. Toilets Showers & Baths Sinks Leaks 24% 22% 17% 37% 24 WWW.QNS.COM • LEFRAK CITY COURIER • DECEMBER 2015
LFC122015
To see the actual publication please follow the link above