[Enesta Jones] 
Hello and welcome to 
EPA's Green Scene, 
an environmental podcast 
you can take with you. 
I'm Enesta Jones with the 
Office of Public Affairs.
How long have you been ignoring 
that pitter patter coming from 
the shower?
How about that leaky faucet 
on the side of your house, 
or that runny toilet?
While leaks may sometimes 
seem like small problems, 
they can waste both valuable 
water resources and money. 
Water is a national priority, 
and there is a way for you 
to use it more
efficiently.
Our guest today will 
tell us all about it.
Joining me is Michael Shapiro, 
EPA's Acting Assistant 
Administrator for Water.
Welcome to the
show, Michael.
[Michael Shapiro] 
Thank you, Enesta. 
It's a pleasure
to be here. 
[Enesta Jones] 
So, Michael, what is 
water efficiency 
and why is it a 
national priority?
[Michael Shapiro] 
Well, basically, water 
efficiency is the idea 
of using water as effectively 
as possible to accomplish our 
needs, and it's important 
because water is a very  
limited and precious resource. 
In the U.S., in some 
parts of the country, 
people are used to turning 
on the tap and having 
as much water as they need 
whenever they need it,   
but really throughout the world 
and increasingly in the 
United States we're finding that 
our water supplies are limited.
A recent study by the Government 
Accountability Office indicated 
that at least 36 states are 
expecting to see some form 
of water shortages by 2013, 
so it's incumbent on all 
of us to use this precious 
resource as efficiently 
as possible. 
And in addition, we spend a lot 
of money as a nation building 
the infrastructure to collect, 
treat, and distribute water, 
and we want to use that 
infrastructure as efficiently 
as possible.
And, again, that means using 
water as efficiently 
as possible. 
[Enesta Jones] 
And what are the benefits 
of water efficiency 
for consumers like 
you and I? 
[Michael Shapiro] 
Well, from a consumer 
perspective, 
water costs money.
And, in the United States, 
a typical family might spend 
on the order of $500 a year for 
their water and sewer services.
And beyond the direct cost 
of money -- of the water, 
using water also has an 
implication for energy use, 
and a lot of the water we 
use in our homes is heated. 
That uses energy.
And treating and getting the 
water to our homes uses energy 
as well.
So, for example, if you leave 
a warm water tap running for 
five minutes, that uses as much 
energy as a 60-watt light bulb 
would use burning for 14 hours, 
so if we save water, 
we save the cost of getting 
that water and treating it 
and we save the cost of the 
energy associated with it.
There are dual savings for 
homeowners by using water 
efficiently to accomplish 
their purposes.
[Enesta Jones] 
And how is EPA involved? 
[Michael Shapiro] 
Well, EPA has been involved for 
awhile, but most recently, 
in 2006, we launched the 
Water Sense program. 
The logo is
right here.
And this is a program that we're 
using to help consumers learn 
how to purchase products 
that are water efficient 
and services that are water 
efficient, and also how to 
be aware of ways in which they 
can save water throughout the 
house and achieve, again -- meet 
their needs by using less water.
So, for example, appliances 
and products that carry the 
Water Sense label have gone 
through a rigorous testing 
and certification program and 
demonstrated that they use  
significantly less water than 
typical products that are found 
in the marketplace but at the 
same time equal or exceed the 
performance needs 
of the consumer.
So the consumers can 
be confident that the 
water-efficient products that 
they buy also will do the job 
for them.
[Enesta Jones] 
And as I understand it, 
Water Sense is launching 
a special campaign aimed at 
consumers just this week. 
[Michael Shapiro] 
That's right.
It's part of our 
education efforts.
We're launching "Fix a Leak 
Week" this week, today in fact.
And the purpose of that is 
to make consumers more aware 
of the small ways in which they 
can lose water through leaks 
and the simple ways in which 
they can address those problems 
and save significant 
amounts of water. 
In a typical home over 
the course of a year, 
with just standard kinds of 
leaks that you find from 
faucets and valves 
and other things, 
a typical home can lose 
about 11,000 gallons, 
which is enough to fill 
a swimming pool. 
[Enesta Jones] 
Wow, wow. 
And how can consumers 
detect a leak?
[Michael Shapiro] 
Well, you can look for 
them for one thing, 
and often that's the way that we 
all notice that we have a leaky 
faucet or perhaps a shower head 
that is leaking a little bit 
around the joint to the pipe, 
or looking at our garden 
hose connections. 
But, to get some sense of when 
there may be significant 
problems, consumers who are in 
areas where they're paying for 
their water by the amount of use 
can look at their water bills.
If you take a month in which 
they're not irrigating their 
lawn, they can look at a bill, 
and, for example, 
a family of four might be 
expected to use around 
12,000 gallons 
in a month.
So if they see that their water 
use exceeds that limit, 
it's a good indication that they 
should be looking somewhere   
to see where there 
may be a leak.
If they have easy access 
to their water meters, 
it's even simpler
than that.
You can take a period of time 
where you're certain you're not 
using any water in the house, 
look at your meter reading 
at the beginning of, say, 
a two-hour period, 
then look at it again at 
the end of that period, 
and if the meter shows that 
there's water been used, 
it means there's 
a leak somewhere. 
And again, then you have 
to track it down, 
but often by looking and 
listening for the sounds 
of moving water, you can find 
the source of the leak.
[Enesta Jones] 
And in today's economy, 
everyone, including myself, 
we're looking for ways how 
not to break the bank.
Are there any other water 
efficiency tips that you 
want to give
consumers?  
[Michael Shapiro] 
Well, again, looking for leaks 
is probably the easiest, 
and there are several relatively 
easy kinds of repairs that many  
homeowners or even renters 
can make on their own.
For example, you can check your 
faucets for drips or leaks 
or for signs of wear, 
replace washers or seals 
quite simply. 
You can look, again, 
at your shower head, 
see if it's leaking around the 
joint or the pipe and seal 
that joint or tighten the joint 
or add some tape around the 
threads to seal it. 
You can look at your garden hose 
fixture when you're using your 
garden hose.
If you see leaks around that, 
it probably means you need 
to replace the washer and, 
again, perhaps add some tape 
around the thread and tighten 
the attachment to the 
house connection.
Those are very simple 
things to do.
Also, checking
your toilet.
Often if there's a leakage in 
the toilet, it's around the 
flapper valve that controls 
the flow of water, 
and replacing that can save a 
considerable amount of water. 
For those consumers who have 
home irrigation systems, 
it's always a good idea to check 
it at the beginning of every 
sprinkling season to make sure 
that the fixtures are tight 
and there are no leaks 
or breaks in the system.
So all those things are simple 
to do, relatively inexpensive 
to fix and can save cumulatively 
a lot of water.
[Enesta Jones] 
And it's key to look for 
that Water Sense logo. 
[Michael Shapiro] 
Right, whenever you look for, 
for example, new toilets 
or bathroom faucets or shower 
heads, we have products that 
are certified and will meet 
your needs while reducing 
your water use. 
[Enesta Jones] 
Right, well, these all 
seem very easy. 
And so, Mike, how much can 
consumers expect to save?
[Michael Shapiro] 
Well, by doing a number of 
things that we talked about, 
buying more water-efficient 
products, Water Sense products, 
checking for leaks and making 
sure that they're using their 
products efficiently, 
for that typical family 
that I talked about before, 
that might spend, say, 
$500 a year on the cost of 
water and sewer service, 
they might save $170, 
so that's over 30 percent, 
significant savings.
And again, these are through 
actions that don't cost a lot 
of money and give you the added 
satisfaction of contributing 
to conserving a 
valuable resource.
[Enesta Jones] 
Well, these seem all relatively 
easy, and the added incentive 
is that consumers don't 
break the bank.
[Michael Shapiro] 
Exactly.
[Enesta Jones] 
Well, thank you for being 
here today, Mike. 
[Michael Shapiro] 
It's my pleasure. 
[Enesta Jones] 
So there you have it. 
Go grab a wrench or contact your 
favorite plumber or handyperson 
to address leaking toilets, 
faucets or other plumbing 
fixtures around 
your home.
For more information 
on water efficiency, 
go to www.epa.gov/watersense. 
See you next time 
on Green Scene.