I believe the urgent issue right now is not building new cars that can save more gas, but updating our present homes to save more water.

Ask anyone who lives in places like Atlanta, parts of Texas, and many areas out West about what it feels like to tighten the belt on the amount of water they can use in their homes. You'll realize that water shortages are real and happening right now across the country. With that in mind, I put together my list of five water-saving plumbing fixtures that really work and can be installed easily in any home:

1. Install a "PRV" (pressure-reducing valve) on your main water line. A home will work fine with water pressure in the range of 35 psi. However, many homes are unknowingly using water pressure well over 70 psi. Have your plumber check your water pressure and, if needed, have a PRV installed and save water as well as your pipes.

2. Install performance showerheads. Standard showerheads use about 2.5 gpm (gallons per minute), and performance showerheads use about 1.75 gpm. That's a savings of about 30 percent for all your showering water, and with the new performance pressure head design you'll probably not even realize you're saving all that water.

3. Install a "HET" (high-efficiency toilet) with the Environmental Protection Agency "water sense" label. Over 40 percent of us are still using older toilets that flush with about 3.5 gallons per flush. New high-efficiency toilets use less than 1.3 gpf by using flushing systems like "Class 6" technology. The EPA "water sense" shows that the HET was tested for maximum flushing power while saving "thousands" of gallons of water a year over older toilets.

4. Install a re-circulating hot-water system. Just like the hotels, new residential "re-circulating hot-water kits" work with your present hot-water tank to deliver hot water quickly to showers and faucets. Stopping the waste of all that cold water down the drain while waiting for the hot water to kick in will make your morning routine more efficient as well.

5. Install water-saving faucets. By dropping the gallons used per minute from about 2.2 gpm to about 1.5 gpm, new redesigned faucets are also saving about 30 percent of your faucet water without sacrificing good pressure. Some kitchen faucets also have special built-in filtered-water taps that allow you to make your own bottled water.

If you do even one of these projects, you will see your own water bills go down, and you'll be helping the environment.

Visitwww.eddelgrande.com, or e-mail EdDelGrande@hgtvpro.com.