More from Harvard. Here’s an article worth reading if you have been wondering about your decision-making process. In Are we thinking too little, or too much? Harvard Business School marketing professor Michael I. Norton discusses the potential pitfalls of thinking too much or thinking too little. Be sure to read the comments.

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6630.html?wknews=03212011

Is Fix A Leak Week about saving water or selling products?  Should the government be leading this effort?

Last week’s annual event from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  teaches people how to fix water leaks in their homes.  Household leaks in the U.S. can add up to 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year per household. In total, leaks from all U.S. homes can be the same as the total annual water use for Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami combined.

Yow! If you are a homeowner, stop reading this article right now and take these three steps to fix leaks in your home recommended by EPA WaterSense:

Back to the topic at hand.  The publicity surrounding Fix a Leak Week events prompted this perfectly reasonably inquiry on a plumbing industry Facebook group last week:

“National Fix A Leak Week” Should the government be leading this effort? Is it effective? An underhand attempt to increase sales of the WaterSense label? Are you promoting it?

For me, the answer to questions 1. 2. parts of 3 and 4 are: Yes.  The only quibble I have with 3 is that Fix A Leak Week’s objectives are not the least bit underhanded.While some of the EPA’s recommendations are repair activities, the EPA website most definitely promotes replacement:  “The vast majority of leaks can be eliminated after retrofitting a household with new WaterSense labeled fixtures and other high-efficiency appliances.”

The minimal investment to get the facts out–as well as other government incentives such as rebates encouraging the use of high-performance water-saving fixtures–is a smart use of tax dollars to encourage a behavior that delivers a greater good.   Rationale:

• New census data reported this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows that the population of Georgia increased by 1.5 million people between 2000 and 2010. The strongest growth was in the suburbs and exurbs of metro Atlanta.  That is a lot of people doing laundry, drinking water and using the toilet. Not to mention watering lawns, considered to be an unalienable right among some in the North GA suburbs. Yet no new water supplies have been built in GA since the 1970s.
  • There’s also that little unpleasantness of the tri-state water war where the North GA region could lose a significant portion of its water supply on January 1,2012. But let’s save that topic for another post before your humble correspondent’s head explodes.
• The Georgia Department of Natural Resources cites the Clayton County Water Authority saving nine dollars in water production cost for every one dollar invested in a water-conserving leak detection and repair program. That’s some tax-dollar ROI even a conservative can love.
• The Georgia Department of Natural Resources also cites Savannah, Ga., hometown of our own Louise Mulherin, for reducing its groundwater withdrawals by 3.8 million gallons a day through a toilet rebate and educational program for city residents. Read Savannah’s lips: No new taxes for fresh water.

Bottom line fact: Georgians can spend modest tax dollars now to reduce water consumption now through education and rebates.   Or we can invest mega-tax dollars to increase fresh water resources.

Furthermore, the plumbing industry is one that gives back. I know this; I’ve worked in the industry for more than 20 years.  Last week,  Georgia’s first GreenPlumber donated his time to give a Fix a Leak Week class called  “Go Green and Save Green.”  The two-hour class was dedicated to the most low-cost solutions to fix leaks in homes.  The entire focus was repair vs. replacement, and all attendees received a free low-flow plumbing kit.   In other words, Nick Marine of Marine Plumbing in Marietta, GA wasn’t drumming up business, and nor was the brand supporting his effort with props and assistance: an O’Reilly/DePalma client, American Standard.  Marine and American Standard supported the program which was held in cooperation with the Cobb County Water System and MUST Ministries of Marietta. Check out Nick’s tips on water pressure for Cobb County, GA residents, captured on video by the Marietta Daily Journal.  Click here to launch and view the video.

Green Plumber Nick Marine describe water pressure in Cobb County to the Marietta Daily Journal.

Fix A Leak Week Tip: Three Things

Fix A Leak Week Tips for homeowners from the EPA  (source: EPA WaterSense website):

• A good method to check for leaks is to examine your winter water usage. It’s likely that a family of four has a serious leak problem if its winter water use exceeds 12,000 gallons per month.
• Check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you probably have a leak.
• One way to find out 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.  Make sure to flush immediately after this experiment to avoid staining the tank.

Please note that yellow is not the best food coloring choice for the toilet leak test. Just sayin’.

For some in the religious world, this week is when people talk about giving things up for Lent. It’s a time of reflection & renewal, often with a focus on self sacrifice. In the environmental world, results are measured in terms of what is gained when things with a negative impact are given up. A building management company can boost the bottom line by reducing the use of electricity and water. As oil prices continue to rise, companies in the transportation realm are tracking increased associated costs, and strategizing on how to reduce fuel usage to recoup those losses. One could argue that any time someone gives up something with the environment in mind the Earth’s bottom line gets a boost. In this time of self reflection, what are you willing to give up?