Local News

You have undoubtedly seen the debate featured on your local news, read it in the newspaper or heard it mentioned on the radio. Is tap water safe to drink? Isn’t bottled water healthier? Who regulates them and is there any difference?

Bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, while municipal/tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Although they may be regulated by different agencies, extensive research has proven that both are generally safe to consume.

In fact, as much as 40 percent of bottled water is actually “bottled” tap water, according to the Food and Water Watch Organization. The age-old debate of tap vs. bottled water all boils down to two factors- saving money and the environment. Why pay two to four times the price of gasoline for what is free?

Americans spend $11 billion each year purchasing bottled water products, second only to caffeinated drinks. This means approximately 215 bottles are consumed per person every year, for a total of 66 billion bottles of water. These empty bottles create mountains of garbage in local landfills and take over 700 years to decompose. Only one in every 10 bottles is recycled.  Plus, more energy is used to manufacture, store and transport bottled water.

So next time you feel the need to quench your thirst, think twice about buying that expensive bottled water with the fancy name and beautiful packaging. You can get the same result from the tap without buying into all the hype.

To learn more about your local tap water, visit the EPA’s site and search for your city at

http://water.epa.gov/drink/local/

It may be known by a multitude of names, including the loo, can, head, john, privy, potty, throne, latrine, outhouse, commode, lavatory, washroom or personal library. But whatever you choose to call it, Americans use their toilets an average of six times daily and spend three years of their lives atop their personal stool. It’s hard for those in developed nations to imagine life without it- but that’s the reality for 2.6 billion people. Forty percent of the world’s population does not have access to plumbing infrastructure.

To highlight this growing problem, the World Toilet Organization (WTO) of Singapore declared November 19 World Toilet Day. The advocacy group calls its approach, “a unique mix of humor and serious facts.” The WTO has partnered with dozens of global organizations to create more awareness during the 2011 celebration, including The Gates Foundation, Unicef, International Federation of Red Cross, World Vision and Habitat for Humanity.

Eighty-five percent of leaks in residential plumbing systems are found in toilets. One leaking toilet can waste 200 gallons of water per day, or 73,000 gallons a year. On average, leaks can account for 10,000 gallons of water wasted in one home every year, which is enough to fill an average backyard swimming pool.

“Don’t flush money down the drain by ignoring a leaky toilet,” says Bill Palmer, president of American Leak Detection. “Just like homeowners change the battery in fire alarms once a year, we encourage them to use the food coloring test to determine if their toilets are leaking and wasting water. Responding to leaking toilets can save up to 25 percent on water bills annually.”

One way to learn if you have a toilet leak is to place a drop of food coloring in the toilet tank. If the color shows up in the bowl within 15 minutes without flushing, you have a leak. But make sure to flush immediately after this experiment to avoid staining the tank. Contact your local American Leak Detection location for more information or for a complete home plumbing inspection.

One familiar old wives’ tale recommends placing a brick in your toilet’s water tank as a convenient and cheap way to conserve water. Many of us have heard this one right? But using a brick may not be the best option- for your pocket book or your plumbing.

By filling valuable space in the tank, the brick allows less water to flow in, thus reducing the amount of water allotted for each flush. But the problem with this flawed advice is the fact that bricks have been known to disintegrate over time, leading to damaged plumbing that may cost you down the road. If you’re determined to use a brick to combat water waste, wrap it in a plastic bag first.

Experts say a brick isn’t the best object to use. Instead, place some sand or rocks into a two liter plastic bottle, fill it with water and place in your tank. Make sure you don’t disturb the toilet’s working parts in the process. The majority of toilets flush well using this submerged bottle method, but experiment to learn which size bottles work best and produce the best flush.

Most toilets flush just as well with less water than you’re used to using. The average American toilet model uses three to six gallons per flush, but placing a wrapped brick or bottle in the tank will save at least one gallon of water per flush- or up to 10 gallons a day in the average home.

For the more experienced do-it-yourself types, you can always purchase a kit at your local hardware store that will convert American-style flushers to European-style dual-flushers which offer a half-flush option for liquids. They cost around $20 each.

Calculate how much water your household uses each day, month and year at http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/thepowerof10/

It seems everyone is “going green” these days, not just the hipster types.

It’s becoming more and more popular to be environmentally conscious and it isn’t just a fad anymore. People of all ages and backgrounds are utilizing energy efficient light bulbs, buying electric cars, filling reusable water bottles instead of buying bottled water and taking reusable shopping bags to the grocery store. Becoming eco-friendly, or “not harming the environment in which you live,” is more than just one action- it’s a whole new attitude and lifestyle.

The American Leak Detection corporate office is dedicated to water conservation, resource protection and providing eco-friendly services. In light of this, we were delighted to see that FranchiseGenius.com, a website who helps pair potential franchisees with franchisors, named ALD one of five green franchise opportunities to invest in.

Check out the full link here:

http://www.franchisegenius.com/blog/eco-friendly-business-5-green-franchise-opportunities-to-invest-in/