国家地理:Green: Bathroom 　盥洗室节水计划

Hi, I am Paddy Kim. Whether you're getting ready to take on the morning, or just soaking in the shower at the end of a long day, the bathroom can be a retreat from the world, but it's also where over 60 percent of the water used indoors gets consumed. So if you'd like to save water and money, the bathroom is a great place to start. Let's take a look.

And the biggest consumer of water in the bathroom, the toilet. Toilets made before 1993 use up to 8 gallons of water per flush, compared to only 1.6 gallons used by modern fixtures 1. It's a good idea to replace pre-1993 toilets if you can. Now if you are not sure exactly how old your toilet is, well, all you have to do is take the lid off the tank and check out the underside because usually there is a manufacturing date stamped underneath 2. Even if you can't replace your toilet right away, you can still save water using a one-liter plastic bottle. Just fill the bottle with some pebbles 3 or sand, put the cap back on and place it in your tank. So it reduces the water used with each flush. Believe it or not, plumbing 4 leaks account for about 14 percent of the water used in the average home, so it's a good idea to check your toilet for leaks. Here is how. Put five to ten drops of food coloring into the tank. Now put the lid back on, but don't flush, wait about 15 minutes, and check the toilet bowl. If you see any food coloring, there is a leak that's wasting water.

Well, a steaming hot shower can certainly be relaxing, but it also happens to be the second biggest consumer of water in the bathroom. Showerheads made before 1992 can draw up to five and a half gallons of water per minute. So check to see if your showerhead is old or new, simply turn the shower on full blast, catch all the water in the bucket and wait exactly two minutes. If the bucket is overflowing 5, then the showerhead isn't a low-flow model. New showerheads start at around 10 dollars, and installing one that draws two and a half gallons or less per minute, can save you 50 percent with every shower. Now faucets 7 also have flow rates, and if you take a look at the screw-on tip, called the aerator 8, that will tell you exactly what the flow rate of your faucet 6 is. And if you suspect that your faucet is a water hog 9, all you have to do is unscrew the aerator and take it to a hardware store. And match it to a new aerator that's the same size. The most efficient models have flow rates of no higher than one gallon per minute.

Now to find the last water-saving device in your bathroom, just look in the mirror. To save water, all you have to do is learn these few easy tricks. You're on your way. When you brush your teeth, turn the faucet off and use a glass of water to rinse 10. Remember to put trash in the wastebasket instead of flushing it away. Skip the bubble bath and take a shower instead. Taking a bath can use up to seven times more water than a short shower.

With a few simple changes right here in the bathroom, you can keep plenty of water and money from going straight down the drain. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time.

To find out how green your bathroom is, click on the link below to take the quiz.


food coloring: artificial colors that are added to certain manufactured food items