If you’re not thinking about reducing water usage in the apartments you oversee, you’re pouring money down the drain. The truth is, you can start saving money immediately on your building with some simple steps. For property owners and managers, lowering water use is a direct way to control operating expenses and protect critical profit margins.
Here’s what you should know to save.
Key Takeaways
- Apartment building water usage is a controllable operating expense that directly impacts profit margins and property value.
- Small improvements in fixtures, hot water systems, and maintenance practices scale into major savings across multiple units.
- Managing water flow and preventing leaks also protects plumbing systems, boilers, and long-term building performance.
Understanding Apartment Building Water Usage
For apartment building management, collecting rent isn’t the only way to turn a profit. It’s all about finding ways to save money, and there are plenty of steps you can take to reduce your overall cost of operation. Learning how to reduce water usage in your apartment complex is a great way to lower monthly bills.
It’s easy to take water for granted until you have a problem. Fixing water issues can quickly get costly, but what about when you’re not having obvious water issues? Unmanaged water use can quickly add up and become unnecessarily expensive. Water costs compound across individual units, common areas, laundry rooms, irrigation systems, and mechanical equipment for your building—these expenses directly impact NOI and your long-term property value.
So saving water is a worthwhile endeavor. But don’t despair if you’re unsure how to reduce apartment water usage in your building. Here, we’ve compiled many suggestions and tips to help you conserve water (and thus, money). The bottom line is that understanding how to stop wasting water will reduce your usage costs and energy costs, letting you save money and improve your property’s performance.
What’s Different About Apartment Water Usage?
Apartment building water usage differs from that of a typical single-family home in many ways. One of the biggest is that the water demand of apartment buildings is constant and cumulative. You may have dozens—even hundreds—of residents using water many times throughout the day. The water usage creates peak demand periods that can stress your plumbing systems, water heaters, equipment, and supply lines.
Morning hours often mean simultaneous shower use among renters. While evenings often bring increased kitchen and laundry demands. In larger buildings, the repeated cycling can lead to pressure fluctuations that wear on valves. It can also mean there’s a higher demand for hot water production loads.
Older buildings are particularly susceptible to hidden water loss. With aging pipes, outdated fixtures, and undetected leaks, you might be sending quite a bit of money down the drain. Even small inefficiencies in individual units multiply across the property. A fixture wasting a gallon of water per hour in one or two apartments can mean thousands of gallons lost annually in a multi-unit building.
The first step to detecting water overuse is to monitor your building’s usage trends. Find out when water is in peak demand. This allows property managers to prioritize upgrades and maintenance that will deliver the most cost control.
Managing flow rates, maintaining hot water systems, and addressing leaks quickly are just a few of the most effective ways to stabilize water consumption for your entire building. It may seem like a leaky tap could go low on the priority list, but it’s a small problem to address to protect your entire building infrastructure.
Apartment Owner FAQ
There are a few questions that come up frequently when it comes to water and apartment buildings. Here are a few of the most common ones.
Do you pay for water in apartments?
In many apartment buildings, the property owners pay water bills through a main meter. Some newer apartment buildings may feature individual water meters, allowing renters to pay and control their own water use. But if you have an older property with central meters, water is a critical line item in your operating expenses.
How much water does an apartment building use?
Actual water use can vary greatly by building size, the number of units, and the amenities. Water use in multifamily properties tends to be quite high because of cumulative demand across individual units and common areas. Even minor water usage reductions per unit can add up to noticeable annual savings.
What is the easiest way to reduce water costs in apartments?
Residents require constant access to water as a minimum standard of livability. If your resident isn’t getting hot water, you will likely hear about it right away. That said, there are a few things that might not get reported—like small leaks. Addressing even minor leaks, installing low-flow fixtures, and keeping your hot water system well-maintained are some of the most cost-effective ways to deliver immediate reductions in water waste and utility bills.
How Submetering and Monitoring Water Use Improve Cost Control
Many apartment buildings depend on a single main meter. While this is convenient for getting a big-picture number, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to know where excess water use is happening.
One solution is to install water submeters or smart monitoring systems that will allow you to track actual water usage across buildings, floors, or even individual units. Having this level of visibility makes it much easier to uncover abnormal consumption, hidden leaks, and plumbing issues before they become expensive problems.
When you can accurately measure water use, your management decisions become data-driven rather than reactive. When you notice unusually high water flow in a section of the property, you can check that spot for leaking fixtures, continuously running toilets, or irrigation problems. Addressing these issues early cuts back on water waste. More importantly, proactive action will help you avoid long-term damage to your building’s plumbing infrastructure.
Submetering can also help you know when peak demand periods occur in your building and pinpoint the system stress points. You’ll plan better around equipment upgrades and maintenance schedules.
If full submetering isn’t possible, regular monitoring of your main meter trends will give you valuable insight into changes. You’ll know how efficiently your property’s water systems are operating and when you need to investigate.
12 Tips for Apartment Managers to Save Money on Water Use
1. Upgrade to ENERGY STAR® rated equipment
This is one of the easiest ways to conserve water and start saving money in the long term, after the initial cost of upgrading water heaters, dishwashers, and other appliances that use water. ENERGY STAR®-rated equipment can reduce water use by up to 10%.
Installing current equipment will also reduce the strain on your plumbing system and hot water infrastructure. The improvement can significantly lower your maintenance risk and improve the liability of your water in multi-unit properties.
2. Communicate basic water-use expectations to residents
It feels a bit unusual to suggest that renters reduce their water usage, but communication supports good property operations. Clear communication will help you limit excessive water use, which drives up property owners’ water bills. Encourage renters to report even small leaks. Post simple, professional signage in common areas with practical tips on water use to support your water conservation goals.
3. Encourage showers instead of baths
Another hot tip to share with residents: showers are much better for water savings than baths. The average gallons of water per shower (even with a low-flow showerhead) is between 15 and 25 gallons for a 5-minute shower. The average bath, on the other hand, weighs in at 36 gallons of water.
You might not be able to control the length of your renters’ showers, but it doesn’t hurt to remind them that shorter showers are better for the environment and can help reduce the amount of water used in each rental unit.
4. Install low-flow showerheads
Before 1992, showerheads had flow rates of 5.5 gallons per minute (sometimes even more). Today, they are not to exceed 2.5 gallons per minute. So, if you have decades-old showerheads, it’s time to swap them out. Newer showerheads reduce water flow without reducing pressure.
It’s worth noting that lower hot water demand will also reduce your building’s energy consumption. Lower demand protects your central water heaters and boilers from the strain of a hefty workload. Your equipment will last longer.
5. Encourage turning off the water while brushing or shaving
A small reminder can help everyone practice efficient water habits. Encourage renters to turn off the water while brushing or shaving. Don’t let water continuously run while cooking or doing dishes. A friendly reminder can help cut back on water waste among individual units.
6. Install low-flow, high-efficiency toilets
Toilets are the biggest water users in apartment units—they’re also obviously a non-negotiable. Every apartment must have a working toilet. If your building has older toilets, consider upgrading.
Older toilets use 4.5-5.5 gallons per flush, while modern low-flow toilets use about 1.3 gallons per flush. By swapping out the toilets in your units, you’ll quickly see a reduction in water usage, and it can lead to long-term savings.
7. Install sink aerators
Aerators reduce water flow by about 1.5 gallons per minute. They are inexpensive and easy to install. If you install them in dozens or hundreds of apartment units, the small reduction in water flow will add up to big annual savings on utilities.
8. Schedule regular maintenance evaluations
Routine plumbing inspections help identify hidden water leaks and plumbing issues. It’s tempting to DIY it all as a landlord (especially if you have building maintenance), but many plumbing issues call for a professional.
Preventative maintenance of your plumbing and hot water equipment is a great way to reduce water loss and avoid emergency repair costs. It’s much better to address issues right away and extend the life of your rental property plumbing system.
9. Fix leaky faucets and toilets
A leaky faucet seems like something that goes at the bottom of the to-do list, but a faucet dripping once per second can waste 44 gallons of water a week. A leaky toilet? Wastes even more than that. Fixing leaks quickly is one of the easiest ways to stop wasting water and avoid unnecessary water bills.
10. Monitor your water bills closely
Don’t just pay the water bill and forget it. Tracking bills helps you monitor overall water consumption and spot unusual spikes. Changes are often the first sign of hidden leaks, plumbing failures, or equipment issues (long before they become a larger capital expense).
11. Manage hot water system settings
Turning down water heater temperatures can reduce energy bills. 120°F is typically sufficient for most applications. Proper hot water temperature management also helps reduce scale building, limits stress on water heaters and boilers, and supports longer equipment life in apartment buildings.
12. Don’t overlook landscaping
Landscaping adds curb appeal to your building, but it can also be a big water expense in apartment communities. Water landscaping 2-3 times a week, remove weeds, and be sure your irrigation system waters during low evaporation times.
Why Water Efficiency Protects Your Plumbing Systems
Reduced water consumption lowers utility expenses and helps protect your plumbing infrastructure. Excessive flow rates, aging fixtures, system demand, and poorly maintained equipment can quickly cause wear and tear on your system.
Lower-flow fixtures and some proactive maintenance will reduce strain on domestic water lines, water heaters, and boilers. Over time, that means fewer service calls, fewer emergency repairs, and predictable maintenance costs. In older buildings, especially, water control is a practical way to protect your long-term asset performance.
If you need assistance or want to update your commercial water heating equipment, reach out to Reliable Water Services. We can help you assess your current system and make sure the sizing is meeting your needs.
No hot water? No worries—call us 24/7 for commercial water heater assistance. We’ll help you make sure your renters have constant access to the warm water they need.