NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 19, 1999

SPECIAL TOILET FLAPPER
PLAYS IMPORTANT ROLE IN
CARY INDOOR WATER
CONSERVATION CAMPAIGN

CARY, NC – More than 320,000 gallons of water have been saved by Cary households participating in the Town’s Early Closing Toilet Flapper (ECTF) rebate program. Through the program, Town of Cary utility customers with 3.5 gallon and larger toilet tanks can purchase an ECTF for about $6.00 at participating hardware stores. When they present their receipt and rebate coupon to the Town, $4.00 is deducted from their next utility bill, and the water savings begin immediately after the device is installed. Since the rebate program began in May 1997, about 455 rebates have been redeemed, and more than 1,000 ECTF’s have been purchased in area hardware stores. This means that on average, each Cary utility customer with an ECTF has saved about 703 gallons of water.

"We know that we can help many citizens save thousands of gallons of water each year through this simple effort," said Cary’s Water Conservation Specialist Jennifer Platt. "An improperly functioning toilet, for example, can waste up to 50 gallons of water per day. That’s more than three months worth of drinking water for one person."

ECTFs work by reducing the amount of water used from a toilet’s tank during each flush.

With a conventional flush, the flapper is held open allowing all the water in the toilet tank to be used. By contrast, the early closing flapper uses the full head pressure of water needed to generate a clean and forceful flush but does so before all the water leaves the tank. This prevents the waste of one or more gallons of water per flush.

The flapper rebate program is just one component of the Town of Cary’s winter water campaign which is aimed to get citizens to focus on improving the water efficiency of their home.

In January, the Town ‘s Water Conservation Program began its Water-Tight Household Audit a two-month effort where water conservation specialists from the Town will, by appointment, visit with Cary homeowners and help them find ways to save water--and money--inside their homes.

For homeowners who want to conduct their own home audit, the Town is offering free Water Efficiency Test Kits which take people step-by-step through the process at their own pace.

Cary’s conservationists also share a list of Indoor Water-Wise Tips that help homeowners as well as apartment dwellers take a comprehensive approach to indoor water conservation. "Folks are surprised at how easy it is to save water and money at the same time," said Platt.

These tips focus on parts of the house including the kitchen, laundry, and bathrooms.

Comprehensive water conservation information is available on the Town of Cary’s website at www.townofcary.org.

###

MEDIA NOTE: Jennifer Platt is available to work with you on this story over the weekend. Indoor water conservation tips follow this release.

PRIMARY CONTACTS: Jennifer Platt, Water Conservation Specialist, 462-3872 or 713-9800 (pager)
Bill Coleman, Town Manager, 469-4002
Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, 460-4951

www.townofcary.org

Town of Cary

INDOOR WATER-WISE TIPS

Bathroom:

• Stop using your toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket.
• Repair dripping faucets by replacing washers. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you could lose 2,700 gallons per year which will add to the cost of your utility bill.
• Use the minimum amount of water needed for a bath by closing the drain first and filling the tub only 1/3 full. Stopper tub before turning water. The initial burst of cold water can be warmed by adding hot water later.
• Recycle a plastic quart milk container, fill it with water and put it in your toilet tank, safely away from the operating mechanisms. In an average home, the bottle may displace 10 gallons or more of water a day. Note: Never put a brick in the toilet. Bricks tend to disintegrate in the water and can damage plumbing.
• Install low-flow showerheads. Call the Department of Public Works and Utilities at 469-4090 to receive a water efficiency test kit to help you determine if you need a more efficient showerhead. The flow bags can be used in the shower or on any faucet. Replace any showerhead that allows a flow of more than 2.5 gallons per minute.
• Limit the length of your showers to 5 minutes or less. Reducing showering time by 1 minute can save 2,000 gallons in a year.
• Check your toilet for leaks. Put a little food coloring in your toilet tank. Wait 10 minutes. If, without flushing, the color begins to appear in the bowl, you have a leak that should be repaired immediately.
• Wake up ! Running the water during your shave wastes more than what one person needs for drinking water for a week. Fill the bottom of the sink with a few inches of warm water. This will rinse your blade just as well as running water.
• Ultra-low-flush toilets, which may cost from under $100 to over $300, depending on the type purchased, use only about 1.6 gallons of water per flush. That could cut your family’s total indoor water use by as much as 20%.

Kitchen

• Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water.
• Do not use running water to thaw meat or other frozen foods. Defrost food overnight in the refrigerator or by using the defrost setting on your microwave.
• Garbage disposals require lots of water to operate properly. Start a compost pile as an alternate method of getting rid of food waste instead of using a garbage disposal.
• If you wash dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running for rising. If you have two sinks, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you have only one sink, gather washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a spray device or a panful of hot water.
• Automatic dishwashers claim the most water in kitchens, about 12 gallons per run. Make sure the washer is fully loaded before you turn it on.
• Don’t let the faucet run when you scrub vegetables or prepare other foods. Put a stopper in the sink instead.
• Check every faucet in the house for leaks. A single dripping faucet can waste far more water in a single day than one person needs for drinking in an entire week. Don’t wait to fix a drip. Do it now!

Laundry

• Each load of laundry uses between 27 and 54 gallons of water. To save water, select the appropriate water level for the size of your laundry. Most washers now offer preset levels for small, medium, and large loads. Use full loads of laundry when ever possible