Thermostatic valves not only promote safety, but they conserve energy as well. Look for systems that can set a firm temperature, such as Kohler’s DTV series, which uses smart technology to control every aspect of the showering experience, including a steam system, multiple programmable showerheads and spa-like chromatherapy.

Some smaller companies are onto this trend, like Scottsdale, AZ-based Evolve Showerheads, which manufactures solely low-flow showerheads. Some of their firm’s products feature ShowerStart, the company’s patented technology which alerts the user to when the water is hot enough to get under, by slowing the stream to a trickle which, according to the company, can save up to 2,700 gallons of water annually.

The Alternative Side

The argument for water conservation comes down to a numbers game: According to the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency, Americans use 100 gallons of water each day (enough to fill 1,600 drinking glasses); a house full of leaky faucets can drip more than 3,000 gallons of water down the drain in a single year; bathroom faucets run an average of two gallons per minute, and to fill a bathtub takes an average of 50 gallons of water or more per soak – it’s enough to make anybody’s head spin.

Nontraditional products have begun flooding the market for those with a dedicated eco-conscience.

TOTO’s Washlet, a personal cleansing system which eliminates the need for toilet paper in the bathroom, is among the more mainstream of these ‘alternative’ products. Part toilet seat, part bidet, part wind tunnel, this unconventional loo takes personal cleanliness and environmental responsibility in a different direction. Designed to fit on pretty much any toilet, it has other comfort features like integrated heat.

Graywater systems, illegal in some states and with formal legislation pending in others, is another way of conserving water, tapping into the “reuse” part of the recycling triangle. A graywater system is a way of diverting used water (“graywater”) from the kitchen and bath sinks and the shower to other parts of the home for further usage in places like the toilet or to water a garden. The idea is that the more the water is used before it returns to the earth, the less fresh water will be utilized. Building codes can be stringent on this, regulating everything from size of the PVC pipe used in the system’s construction, to the exact point of reentry for the used water, so be sure to learn the codes in your area.

The future will see a continuing array of inventive product to meet the expanding need, such as Sancor Industries’ Envirolet, a waterless composting toilet. In today’s expanding market, if your client wants to save water, you’ll have no shortage of ways to meet that desire.

A terrific place to start your water conservation education is by visiting the EPA’s WaterSense program Website, www.epa.com/watersense. WaterSense is a clearinghouse for information on managing water responsibly. WaterSense labels products which it has deemed to be water efficient, similar to its appliance-grading sister program, EnergyStar.

To paraphrase KBDN columnist Mary Jo Peterson in her July ’07 “Planning & Design” column: The sooner we accept that water is a finite and exhaustible resource, the sooner we can start plugging up the problem...pun very much intended.