Assessment of Household Water Saving Due to Using Water-Efficient Fixtures and Faucets

Water resources management bodies are under increasing pressure to meet potable water demands. Population growth and socio-economic development have led to the increase in urban water consumption and costly development and improvement of the water-wastewater systems. Therefore, there is a need to integrate the water resources supply and demand management measures. The main part of the urban water demand is residential consumption. One of the most effective residential water conservation measures can be the use of water-efficient fixtures and faucets. In this study, decrease in water consumption is evaluated due to the use of single handle faucets and water-saving fixtures including low-flow showerheads and aerators in sample households in the city of Shandiz, Iran. An appropriate sample size of 23 households was selected using a two-stage sampling technique. To gauge the end-uses of residential water such as toilets, showers, and lavatories, separated measuring devices were installed for each receiving part. For the base condition the daily end-uses of selected households were recorded for 9 days with their traditional faucets. Water-efficient fixtures and faucets were then installed and water consumption was measured for another 9-day period. Results indicated that installing water-efficient faucets, aerators, and showerheads can reduce total consumption of water in the Shandiz residential sector by about 26 percent arising from a 27 to 34 percent reduction in different end-uses. The costeffectiveness of a retrofit project for households in Shandiz City is also evaluated in this study. The results indicated that the benefit to cost ratio for the project is greater than 2.