As landlords one of the biggest sudden building costs is losing track of a water bill because of an ongoing leak or general over consumption. We have learned some easy tricks over the years to save on these costs. In some cases utilities may be included in your rent- so this means by keeping consumption low it will help to ensure your rent stays as low as possible too. Read the list below to educate yourself on how to check for leaks or avoid them all together!
Minimize “Running Water”
Turn off water while washing dishes.
Turn off water while shaving or brushing your teeth.
Use a low-flow shower head and take shorter showers.
Adjust your toilet flusher to a lower level or put a plastic bottle in the tank to offset the amount per flush.
If you have a yard only water plants early in the morning or later in the evening.
Do not leave yard sprinklers unattended – use a timer.
Avoid Leaks & Drips
If you notice a drippy faucet report it to maintenance quickly (this may seem like a small amount of water but can add up to a lot).
Listen for a running toilet and report any to maintenance quickly.
We appreciate any efforts made to keep utility billings down and to report needed repairs. Our goal is to be as efficient as possible in order to keep our rental rates more reasonable or to catch repairs before bigger issues arise. Another side effect of drips and leaks is water damage. We ask all our tenants to please report anything suspect to maintenance. It’s a whole lot easier to repair things before they have been sitting in water for extended amounts of time.
If you do end up with water saturation after a leak there are some cases that require full water mitigation treatment while there are others where a thorough cleaning and drying is enough to be safe from mold or mildew.
It’s also not just about saving on costs or repairs – the US is facing more and more drought every year. So the price for water use will continue to grow. If good habits are formed around personal consumption we can minimize the effects. For an up to date mapping of the droughts in the US visit : https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
