Conserving Water

Rainwater storage system at Joppa Flats Education Center
 
Smartstorm rainwater collection system at Habitat Education Center

Water conservation is a key environmental concern in our state and all over the planet. Water is a vital resource for human and animal consumption, agriculture, industrial production, and ecosystems, and it is important to ensure that there’s enough to go around.

Cleaning water and moving it through our cities and towns also requires a huge amount of energy. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, drinking water and wastewater systems account for 3-4 percent of energy use in the U.S. and produce 45 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.

At Mass Audubon, we have taken steps to reduce our water consumption by:

  • Replaced 177 toilets with dual flush models and 33 with models that use 1.6 gallons of water or less per flush.
  • Installing 6 waterless urinals.
  • Installing 24 waterless Clivus Multrum composting toilets at four sites.
  • Replacing washing machines and dishwashers at multiple sites with WaterSense and Energy Star models.
  • Using rainwater stored in a cistern to flush toilets at the Joppa Flats nature center.