Unclog your plumbing budget: the average apartment unit uses 80 to 150 gallons of water daily. After making just four changes, an owner could reduce usage by almost 40 percent.

In this competitive market place, a dollar saved is a dollar earned. Mortgages can't be changed and taxes are what they are, but the cost of energy and water is one area in which money can be saved.

Water is the largest controllable cost at an apartment community. Saving money on water goes much further than reducing irrigation from four days a week to three days. Saving money on water and plumbing begins the moment the water crosses the meter until the moment it enters the sanitary sewer.

Many residents do not pay a water bill. Water charges often are embedded in the rent and residents are free to use--or waste--as much water as they wish without additional charges.

In addition to the actual cost of the fresh water, there are the associated costs for the treatment of wastewater and for the energy required to heat the water. Those expenses are increasing daily and will continue to increase. Because many parts of the country are in the midst of strict water conservation, these conservation measures will be more onerous in the future.

Money Down the Drain

The volume of water used in a typical housing unit can range from 80 gallons to 150 gallons daily. After making just four changes, an owner could reduce water usage by almost 40 percent. That would result in $8,000 monthly savings on a $20,000 water bill. That's $96,000 a year. That savings will occur year after year.

For less than one month's rent, an owner can install new faucet aerators ($2 to $10 each), low-flow shower heads ($20 to $40 each), a water tank displacement device (less than $5) and duel flush adapters, a device for short and long flushes ($20 to $40 each). A licensed plumber can complete most of those fixes in less than 30 minutes. Those repairs also can be scheduled to occur over a predetermined timespan.

Saving money by spending money is good, but saving money for free is even better. Many water utility companies across the country have recognized the water-saving potential of Ultra Low Flush Toilets (UFLT) and offer incentives to replace old toilets with water-conserving fixtures. The design and levels of user satisfaction have consistently improved since 1992, when the Energy Policy Act established the national manufacturing standard of 1.6 gallons per flush for most toilets. This program varies by state, but currently includes cities in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington. Because program details change constantly, check with local water utility companies.

A Better Leak Solution

Many communities suffer from chronic leaks in the supply system. The payback on repairing leaks is an immediate 100 percent since both the cost of the water and the energy costs associated with heating or cooling the water is being saved. Traditional repairs, such as patching or whole line replacement, are expensive and bothersome to the people who pay rent. However, there is an alternative to the traditional--epoxy pipe lining.

An epoxy pipe lining system can solve water line problems, including low flow, discolored water and pinhole leaks. The epoxy pipe lining builds a new pipe within the old pipe through a three-step process. First, the pipes are dried using dried compressed air. The pipes are then sand blasted clean, which restores the lines almost to their original diameters. Finally, the epoxy is applied under controlled air pressure.

The alternative to the epoxy pipe lining system is often a complete repiping, which involves tearing open walls, floors and ceilings, potentially gutting bathrooms and kitchens and displacing many residents. Application of the epoxy pipe lining takes less than half the time of repiping, is up to 25 percent less expensive and causes the least disruption for residents.

Chris Woolheater, a fourth-generation plumber with Innerline Plumbing, said some brands of piping can be guaranteed to be leak free for 10 years and can remain leak free for up to five times that of copper replacement through the application of epoxy pipe lining.

Tom Pottmeyer, the Owner of Plum Tree Apartments, a 150-unit, nine-building community in southern California, had a problem with corrosion and leaks in the recirculation system. The ongoing, expensive, traditional repairs were beginning to cause his residents to move out. Using a repipe or line replacement method would have forced the kitchen cabinets and bathtubs to be removed and reset. The community was almost 100 percent occupied, and the repairs would have displaced many of the residents. The epoxy pipe lining relieved the community of any major demolition and repair work and restored the pipes to fix the leaks.

"There was little disturbance when the work was being done," Pottmeyer said.

Archstone-Smith recently selected epoxy pipe lining as the solution to piping problems at Lincoln Towers, its 12-year-old, 22-story, luxury, 800-unit community in Arlington, Va.

Mitchell Mann, Community Manager at Lincoln Towers, said, "Because the work takes place in occupied units at Lincoln Towers, it represents a special challenge. We have to minimize the inconvenience to our residents and at the same time move the job along as efficiently as possible. The onsite crew has been very flexible and responsive to the needs of our residents and staff throughout the process."

In 1974, when new owners acquired the Alpenhaus Rental Apartments in Edmonds, Wash., just outside of Seattle, the three-building residential rental project was almost new. The community was built in phases between 1970 and 1974, and it wasn't until the late 1980s and early 1990s that signs of corrosion began to show in the galvanized pipe system. First, crystal-clear water became cloudy. Next, water pressure weakened. Finally, pinhole leaks appeared in the pipes. Water usage was soaring because of the many leaks and residents were running the water to clear the lines.

Building Manager Frank Hilliard said, "Epoxy pipe lining installation was estimated to take 30 days for each of our 20-unit rental buildings compared with the six months it took to replace the entire pipe of our 25-unit building in 1994. Equally important, with the epoxy pipe lining alternative, no resident was likely to be without water service for more than one night."

Exterior Saving Strategies

Exterior water usage at apartment communities can range from virtually nothing to 20 percent of the total water consumption.

There are several strategies that apartment owners and managers should consider:

* Eliminate narrow strips of turf. These areas use up to four times as much water for irrigation than other areas.

* Remember that 1 inch of water applied to 1,000 square feet of lawn (about the size of half a tennis court) amounts to 624 gallons of water. In one year, a lawn can use up to 18,720 gallons of water.

* Use separate meters for the property irrigation system. This won't save direct water dollars, but it will save on sewer charges and allow owners to better track exterior water consumption.

* Restrict outdoor hose bibbs for car washing. Although residents might have a negative reaction initially, some communities have overcome this objection by offering discount coupons to local car washes.

Regularly Scheduled Drain Cleanings

Nobody wants to spend money on something they can't see. However, a regularly scheduled cleaning of the sanitary sewer lines helps to keep residents--and city code inspectors--happy and helps owners to budget plumbing dollars. It can also extend the life of sanitary sewer lines.

When the drain is slow or refuses to flow properly, it's usually the just the tip of the iceberg. Opening the stoppage is merely treating the symptom. A plumber can get the line flowing again with a simple unstopping, but before a guarantee on drain cleanings can be expected, the cause of the problem needs to be identified.

To understand the drain system, first identify the parts. The drain system from the fixtures (toilet, bathtub, sink, etc.) throughout the building is the branch line. There can be several branch lines servicing a building. The branch lines are then connected to the main drain. The main drain can service several buildings or the entire community. The main drain empties into the municipal sanitary sewer line, which is usually located under the street. It then flows to the water treatment plant. An owner's main concern is from the fixture to the street.

Before an owner can expect a warranty for drain cleaning, he or she must first know what is causing the blockage and what the appropriate solution is. A simple drain cleaning would begin with unclogging the branch line to get the line flowing again, which solves most kitchen sink and many toilet problems and is what's needed for a first-time stoppage. This process is not effective for removing softer blockages such as grease. Sink cleaners and cable machines will bore holes through the sludge and grease but they won't clean and push the debris down the line; it's only a temporarily solution. An inexperienced plumber can return time and again to "clean" the same line when all he or she is really doing is unclogging the branch line.

Sometimes the problem can be as simple as an overloading of the fixtures, but often there could be a problem with the fixtures connected to the branch line. This is the easiest thing to recognize because the problem will usually occur during the morning maximum, when most people are taking showers and using other fixtures. If the fixture has drained down to normal by the time the maintenance technician arrives at the apartment, then this is the possible cause.

When a simple drain cleaning does not work, it is time to bring in bigger and better equipment. Some plumbing companies have trailer-mounted hydrojetters. These cleaning machines produce up to 3,000psi water streams that will dislodge and wash everything in the lines. It is a quick and efficient way to clean slow-draining or obstructed lines. City water departments use the same type of equipment to maintain their lines. The generated water streams are powerful enough to cut through wood.

Other line problems could be related to:

* Earth movement that causes a line to shear or break.

* Pipe bellies that collect larger waste objects that will grow into a stoppage.

* Roots--love the trees, hate the roots. Roots can be cut out and removed with the proper head on a small sewer machine, but they can turn into a maintenance issue.

* Old-fashioned blockages--who knew G.I. Joe couldn't swim?

* Bottles or rocks thrown into the cleanout openings. Be sure cleanouts are covered.

If drain line problems are ignored, they will get worse. Have a qualified, trustworthy plumber regularly inspect and address the drain system. Regular preventative maintenance will keep the lines flowing, make residents happy and prevent plumbing dollars from going down the drain.

K.C. Bindel is Director of Sales for Innerline Plumbing, a North Texas-based, plumbing company that specializes in apartment and commercial plumbing solutions. He can be contacted at 817/201-4162 or [e-mail].

By K.C. BINDEL

THE COST OF NOT CONSERVING

                                     NON-CONSERVING   CONSERVING
FIXTURE/APPLIANCE                        USAGE          USAGE

Toilet (gallons per flush)                3.5            1.6
Showerhead (gallons per minute)           2.5            1.5
Faucet (gallons per minute)               2.0            1.5
Leaks (gallons per person per day)        3.4            0.0

DO THE MATH

ITEM                                        TOILETS   FAUCETS   SHOWERS

1. Flush volume in gallons per flush
   ((JPF) for existing toilets: flow rates
   in gallons per minutes (GPM) for           --        --        --
   existing faucets and showerheads.          gpf       gpm       gpm

2. Flush volume, flow rate for                --        --        --
   water conserving replacements.             gpf       gpm       gpm

3. Potential reduction in water use           --        --        --
   (subtract line 2 from line 1)              gpf       gpm       gpm

4. Daily use for each device                  --        --        --
   (number of uses per day)                 flushes     min       min

5. Water savings in G/day/device              --        --        --
   (multiply lines 3 and 4)

6. Total number of devices                    --        --        --

7. Total ccf of water saved per year          --        --        --
   (multiply line 5 by line 6 by 0.488)

8. Cost of water per ccf                      --        --        --
   (from water bill)

9. Dollars saved per year                     --        --        --
   (multiply lines 7 and 8)

10. Cost of retrofits/replacements            --        --        --

11. Net cost (subtract line 10 from 9)        --        --        --

12. Payback period in years                   --        --        --
    (divide line 11 by line 9)

ESTIMATED WATER SAVINGS

INDOOR WATER USAGE                            PROJECTED WATER SAVINGS
                                                 GALLONS PER YEAR

ULFT toilets                                        3,650-7,300
Leak detection and repair                           1,095-3,555
Installation of low-flow showerheads                1,095-2,190
Installation of low-flow faucet aerators              183-1,643
Installation of toilet displacement devices           365-1,095
Eliminate narrow strips of turf                          73,500
Installation of special faucet/hose bibbs                 6,388

INDOOR WATER USAGE                                   LONGEVITY
                                                     IN YEARS

ULFT toilets                                             20
Leak detection and repair                                 2
Installation of low-flow showerheads                     10
Installation of low-flow faucet aerators                 10
Installation of toilet displacement devices               5
Eliminate narrow strips of turf                          20
Installation of special faucet/hose bibbs                10