WaterSense Fixtures Report

Gabrielle Fernandez
September 2, 2022

Part 1: Research the following questions.

1. Do you use public water or private well? How did you know which you have?

My husband and I’s apartment uses public water which I know mainly because we receive a bill
each month for our usage.

2. Do you have a septic system or sewer access? How did you know?

My husband and I’s apartment has sewer access. I know this because we receive a bill for the
usage each month.

3. Do you know where your water comes from? Find the name of the water body
that supplies your drinking water.

I was not aware of where our water came from until I investigated our water bill. Our water is
supplied by KC Water and comes from the Missouri River and a well field in the Missouri River
aquifer.

4. Who uses this waterbody or watershed?

KC Water supplies 172,000 customers both inside and outside city limits, along with 34
wholesale customers.

5. How do they use this waterbody?

KC Water uses the surface water from the Missouri river and then treats the water. The
treatment process meets federal and state requirements for drinking water.

6. How many water fixtures in your home?

• Facuets: 3
• Toilets: 2
• Shower valve: 2
• Tub valve: 2

7. Do any of these fixtures leak or drip? If so, how many?

Thankfully, none of our fixtures leak or drip.

 8. Aside from leaks or drips, is water wasted in your home – if so how?

Water is wasted in our apartment certainly by our dish and clothing cleaning habits. My husband
and I do not always wait for the dishwater to be “full” in order to run it if it has something we
need in it (we are short on cutting boards so this is a key culprit). I also know water is wasted in
our apartment based on the type of fixtures we have. While we do not experience any leaks or
drips, they do not necessarily regulate the amount of water used.

9. What ways can you think of that your household could conserve water?

I believe our primary source of water waste come down to our dish and clothing cleaning.
Running the dishwasher only when it is completely full, along with the washer/dryer would help
immensely. Also reflecting on why we run these so frequently or when they are not full leads to
some simple solutions of what we need to offset it.

10. Do you know where water goes when it goes down the drain? And what happens
to it?

The wastewater in our home is collected and treated at the KC Water treatment plant.

Pt. 2: Water Tracking

Date or Day Monday, August 29

Washing
Fixture Faucet Shower Bath Toilet Dishwasher Machine
GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM
15
minutes -
30 second cleaning Used -
1st rinse shower flushed
10
minutes -
30 second personal Used -
2nd rinse shower flushed
30 second Used -
3rd hand wash flushed
30 second
4th hand wash
30 second
5th hand wash
30 second
Uses 6th hand wash
Total # of minutes
or uses 3 20 0 3 0 0
Total # of gallons
per fixture 6 41.94 0 10.8 0 0
Total # of gallons
used per day 58.74
Date or Day Tuesday, August 30
Washing
Fixture Faucet Shower Bath Toilet Dishwasher Machine
GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM
10
minutes -
1 minute personal Used -
1st rinse shower flushed 1 load
10
minutes -
30 second personal Used -
2nd hand wash shower flushed
30 second Used -
3rd hand wash flushed
30 second Used -
4th hand wash flushed
30 second
5th hand wash
1 minute
Uses 6th rinse
Total # of minutes
or uses 4 20 0 4 0 1
Total # of gallons
per fixture 8 41.94 0 14.4 0 28
Total # of gallons
used per day 92.34
Date or Day Wednesday, August 31
Washing
Fixture Faucet Shower Bath Toilet Dishwasher Machine
GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM
10
minutes -
30 second personal Used -
Uses 1st rinse shower flushed 1 load
 30 second Used -
2nd hand wash flushed
30 second
coffee pot Used -
3rd cleaning flushed
30 second Used -
4th hand wash flushed
30 second
5th rinse
30 second
6th rinse
5 minutes
washing
7th dishes
Total # of minutes
or uses 8 10 0 4 1 0
Total # of gallons
per fixture 16 20.97 0 14.4 6 0
Total # of gallons
used per day 57.37
Date or Day Thrusday, September 1
Washing
Fixture Faucet Shower Bath Toilet Dishwasher Machine
GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM
10
minutes -
30 second personal Used -
1st rinse shower flushed 1 load
10
minutes -
30 plant personal Used -
2nd watering shower flushed
30 second
coffee pot Used -
3rd cleaning flushed
30 second Used -
4th rinse flushed
1 minute Used -
Uses 5th sink clean flushed
 5 minutes
washing Used -
6th dishes flushed
2 minutes
plant
7th watering
Total # of minutes
or uses 10 20 6 1
Total # of gallons
per fixture 20 41.94 0 21.6 0 28
Total # of gallons
used per day 111.54
Date or Day Friday, September 2
Washing
Fixture Faucet Shower Bath Toilet Dishwasher Machine
GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM GPM
10
minutes -
1 minute personal Used -
1st rinse shower flushed 1 load 1 load
30 second
plant Used -
2nd watering flushed
1 minute Used -
3rd rinse flushed
30 second
coffee pot Used -
4th cleaning flushed
30 second
5th hand wash
30 second
Uses 6th hand wash
Total # of minutes
or uses 4 10 4 1 1
Total # of gallons
per fixture 8 20.97 0 14.4 6 28
Total # of gallons
used per day 77.37
Pt. 3: WaterSense Label & Write Up

I visited the Ace Hardware across the street from JCCC to look through the products they
carried in the plumbing section to learn more about identifying the WaterSense label. As I
walked up and down the aisles, starting in the toilet section, I didn’t have much luck. When I
arrived at the faucet section, I started to notice the WaterSense label appear on products. The first
faucet I saw was a Moen Banbury faucet. As I looked around the package, I didn’t gain that
much knowledge about the faucet and what set it apart beyond the label. The back stated the
finish, that it was certified WaterSense, and that flexible supply lines were not required.

Beyond some of the Moen products, I noticed some Delta and Oakbrook products were
certified WaterSense as well. When looking at the information on the back of an Oakbrook
faucet, I saw that the specific product was ADA compliant, WaterSense certified, and the
information that all faucets were tested to be leak free and use 45% less water. I found this
helpful beyond just the stamp of being “WaterSense” certified. As I continued to the showerhead
section, I continued to see Oakbrook products labeled with the WaterSense seal, but that was
pretty much it.

The experience was really eye opening for me. As a consumer, I wasn’t aware water
WaterSense meant or that it was something I should be looking for to conserve water. Over half
of the products did not have any sort of green label, let alone be WaterSense certified, and I
would be curious how many consumers look for that attribute. As you look at price, it did not
come at a higher cost to choose the greener option, but you did need to be aware of what to look
for and the impact the water efficient products have when it comes to water usage.