In 1947, when my boss’s father started his Roto-Rooter plumbing repair and service franchise in Los Angeles, there were just under 10 million people living in California. Not every home even had a bathroom back then, and plumbing needs were much simpler.

Today, that business has grown to become one of the nation’s largest Roto-Rooter franchises. California’s population now tops 37.5 million, and the average American, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), uses 80-100 Gallons of Fresh Water every day!

The family still has homes in California and it’s where their children and grandchildren live.  They care about the quality and the quantity of fresh water that’s available. With many of the water issues California has faced in recent years, fresh water is not something we can afford to take for granted.

That’s why at Russell Warner Roto-Rooter, we’ve started our “52 Billion Gallons Saved” campaign, part of our RotoGreen initiatives. Our goal is to help homeowners in our service area – which stretches from Los Angeles to Sacramento and over to northern Nevada and Lake Tahoe – save 52 billion gallons of in-home fresh water in the next 24 months.

Are you with us? A great place to start is with your bathroom toilet plumbing.

One of my major responsibilities around here is director of flushology. So, here are some interesting statistics:

The biggest waste of fresh water is our toilets!  Yes, can you believe it?  Everyone flushes, on average, five times per day, but here is the “poop scoop;” 75% of all our flushes is for Number One.

Well, the average toilet being used takes 1.5 to 2.0 gallons of water per flush, yet the toilet only needs half of that amount for “liquid waste”!

There are approximately 13 million people who live in our franchise area, which is, get this, 65 million flushes per day of which 48.8 million are for Number One.

So what can we do to save 52 billion gallons for the year?  Take a “nature walk”?  No, not really. But, we will announce this solution on my next blog!

Until then, we would love to hear your guesses. How do you think you can best save water with your toilet? Post your comments below! You can also “like” us on Facebook, where we’ll be sharing more information about our initiatives.

Thank you,

Dan Wager, Marketing Director

Russell Warner Roto-Rooter