A Vital Appliance

October 7, 2009

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America — Wednesday, October 7th. Sometimes what at first sounds laughable turns out to be serious. For example, this is National Toilet Tank Repair Month. Most of us aren’t sure about the mysterious inner workings of this vital piece of household equipment and leave its occasional problems for professional plumbers to handle. It’s estimated that one-in-four toilets in the U.S. leak, and each one can waste more than 70,000 gallons of water a year. In some parts of the country, water shortages are becoming acute and every gallon saved is important. Each day in the U.S., we use more than 400 billion gallons of water for all purposes, including generating electricity and irrigation. That works out to over 1,400 gallons for each American. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.

Sources: www.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/fixleak.htm
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 354
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html