No one wants to waste a precious natural resource, or have a high water bill. Read below for a few helpful tips on conserving water.
- Turn off faucets. Turn water off as you wash or rinse dishes, wash your hands or face, brush your teeth or shave.
- Use every drop. Capture the water under your colander when rinsing fruits and veggies, and deposit it in the garden. Do the same while you wait for your hot water to come in.
- Double-dip dishes. According to the EPA, you’ll use half the water if you fill one sink with hot, soapy water for washing, and the other with cool, clear water for rinsing. If your sink is a single model, use two large bowls for washing and rinsing.
- Dishwasher. Run only full loads.
- High-efficiency washer. The average American family washes about 300 loads of laundry each year. Clothes washing accounts for more than 20 percent of residential indoor water use.
- Go with low-flow. The bathroom is the site of the greatest indoor water use in the house. Toilets account for nearly 30 percent of an average home’s indoor water consumption. Showering accounts for almost 17 percent of household indoor water use — 40 gallons a day for the average family of four.
- Shorten your showers. Use a kitchen timer to time your showers, and aim for five minutes or less.
- Pool Covers. Pool covers not only retain a heated pool’s temperature, but it reduces evaporation. The Department of Energy reports that a pool cover cuts the amount of replacement water needed by 30 to 50 percent.
- Water by hand. Consider hand watering if you have a small garden area. Households that manually water with a hose typically use 33 percent less water outdoors than those that use an automatic irrigation system, according to the EPA.
- Irrigation Controllers. Weather-based irrigation controllers adjust to real weather conditions and provide water only when needed. Efficient, rotator sprinkler heads, shoot jets of waters at a slow rate to increase penetration and eliminate drift. Drip irrigation piping and soaker hoses for improved watering efficiency.
- Capture rainwater. Use rainwater in the garden.