WATER WATCH : TANK TALK

Plumbing is an ancient skill. Relatively sophisticated systems for disposing of waste can be traced at least as far back as the Roman Empire. In fact, our word plumbing is derived from plumbum, Latin for lead, which the Romans used in their sanitary systems. Flush toilets, however, were not widely used in homes until the 19th Century.

Now, however, according to surveys, about 25% of the water used in Orange County’s homes goes down the toilet--literally. For some homes, that works out to as many as 28 gallons per person per day. There are, however, some steps you can take to make sure your toilet uses the minimum amount of water:

Check your toilets for leaks. Do this by adding a little food coloring to the tanks. If the color appears in the bowl, there’s a leak. Repairing leaks can save up to 200 gallons per month.

Don’t use your toilet for something other than what it was designed--most conspicuously as a trash basket. Using an ashtray instead of throwing cigarette butts in the toilet is another way to cut your water bill. The combined water savings can amount to 400 to 600 gallons per month.

You can displace a certain amount of water in your toilet tank so that it uses less water with each flush. Do this by filling a plastic bottle (such as soap and laundry softener bottles) with water and placing it in the tank. Estimated resulting savings: 150 gallons per month.

If you’re in the market for a new toilet, buy a shallow-trap model. It can save 3 1/2gallons per flush.

Sources: California Department of Water Resources; Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Irvine Ranch Water District; Collier’s and World Book encyclopedias