David Schwartz
Average families use over 300 gallons of water daily. As a landlord, utility bills are no joke, and when you’re paying for water, there’s not much incentive for your tenants to limit their use. Think about that 300 gallons per day, then think about how many tenants you have — that’s a lot of water, and a lot of it is going to waste.
Instead of letting all of that extra water go down the drain and watching your money swirl away, invest in some of these top water conservation products that will reduce water usage passively after installation.
Related: Why Should Landlords Invest In Water Conservation?
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The Water Scrooge™ VALVE
If you want to save money on your water bill with a single product, The Water Scrooge™ is a must-have for landlords in any industry. You probably didn’t know that you’re paying for air on your water bills, did you?
It’s not just water that passes through a building’s water meter — there’s air in there, too, and you’re getting charged for it. The Water Scrooge smart valve saves you money in two ways: It eliminates inaccurate readings on water meters and doesn’t allow excessive water consumption.
How it works is simple, but there’s no product out there that can do the same thing. It compresses the air before it reaches the water meter so that it can flow through undetected. So, why are you still paying for air in your water?
What if you could reduce your water bill by up to 20% by improving the accuracy of your water meter? Good news — you can. Get the Water Scrooge here.
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Smart Water Meters
How much water do your tenants use every day? If you don’t know the answer, you might want to invest in smart water meters, like the Moen monitor and automatic shut-off valve, for your rental properties.
Installing smart water meters gives you a real-time view of a property’s water usage, detects leaks that might not be visible, and can send you alerts of abnormalities so you can turn off the water remotely.
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Smart Irrigation Systems
Leaks in a sprinkler system are one of a landlord’s worst nightmares — not to mention that traditional irrigation systems are incredibly wasteful, even without a leak. They work on timers that are oblivious to the lawn’s needs and local weather conditions, resulting in incredibly high water bills.
A smart irrigation controller, like this one from Orbit, can save you time, money, and water by automatically adjusting its watering schedule based on the needs of your tenant’s lawn or garden.
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Rain Sensors
Attaching a rain sensor to your properties’ sprinkler systems is a low-cost way to save on water bills. All you need is a simple, cheap sensor, like the Rain Bird RSD, to lower the utility costs of watering lawns and gardens.
This rain sensor connects directly to almost any irrigation system controller and automatically turns it off when it rains, something many tenants forget to do.
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Water Recycling Systems
Another great (albeit more expensive) way to conserve water on your rental properties is with a greywater recycling system. Greywater comes from showers, sinks, and appliances — you don’t want to drink it, but you can reuse it for other things.
It’s a fantastic way to recycle water for use in things like flushing toilets and watering gardens instead of letting it go down the drain.
Related: The Financial Impact of Water Waste for Landlords and Investors
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The Shower Scrooge
Low-flow shower heads are great — until your tenants tamper with them to get more water pressure. Regulating shower water usage is a massive challenge for landlords, and it’s easy for your tenants to remove the restrictors inside shower heads, resulting in wasted time and money.
A much more effective option is to use the Shower Scrooge, a tamper-proof shower flow controller for any showerhead. It attaches to shower fixtures behind the wall, but don’t worry; tampering with the wall is not required.
In addition to saving money by reducing the shower’s water usage, the Shower Scrooge acts as a pressure regulator, ensuring consistent water pressure and conversation for all of your tenants, no matter which floor they’re on.
Ready to reduce your water bill with a tamper-proof device that you can install in minutes? Get the Shower Scrooge for all of your rental properties today.
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Rainwater Harvesting Systems
If a greywater recycling system seems too complex and like an all-around hassle, a rain harvesting system is another great option to conserve water. It can be as simple as a container with a spigot.
The hard part is encouraging your tenants to use the collected water for things like lawn and garden irrigation.
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Water-Saving Fixtures
While we mentioned above that low-flow fixtures aren’t the best solution, they are still a relatively affordable way to try conserving water in your rental buildings. And there are plenty of options, including:
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High-Efficiency Appliances
Smart and high-efficiency appliances require significant upfront investments, but they will help you save on water bills that your tenants rack up over time. These appliances use significantly less water than other models.
High-efficiency washing machines, smart-home-enabled dishwashers, and dual-flush toilets can all reduce water usage and save you money while upgrading your properties.
Related: Insights for Landlords: Understanding Tenant Water Usage
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The Toilet Scrooge
Leaky toilets could be costing you thousands, and you might not even realize it. One running toilet is bad enough, but what about an apartment building full of them? You can’t have your maintenance team monitoring all of your tenants’ toilets all of the time.
Plus, some leaks are subtle, and your tenants won’t even notice. Or, they don’t feel like calling you to fix it because they’re not paying for the water bill and don’t want to deal with the hassle.
We have the perfect solution: The Toilet Scrooge leak prevention device.
The Toilet Scrooge doesn’t detect leaks — it prevents them from occurring. It attaches directly to your water line and toilet, only allowing water to flow when someone is in the bathroom, thanks to its built-in motion sensor. Once your tenant leaves the bathroom, the Toilet Scrooge closes the valve. If there’s no water flowing, there’s no water leaking.
Why invest in detecting leaks when you could prevent them instead? Install the Toilet Scrooge in all of your building’s bathrooms to save on your monthly water bills.