Water Conservation

There are several things you can do around your home that will significantly reduce water waste and save you money.

In the bathroom:

(Nearly 75% of the water used in your home is used in the bathroom!)

Turn the water off after wetting your toothbrush.
Don’t let the water run when you’re brushing your teeth (or washing your face). By leaving the water running while brushing your teeth you waste three gallons of water. Wet your toothbrush and fill a glass with water to rinse.

Faucets and pipes should be checked for leaks.
If you have a leaking faucet or pipe you could be wasting as many as 20 gallons of water per day. Larger leaks can waste hundreds of gallons per day.

Install an ultra-low toilet.
An ultra-low toilet can cut your family’s total indoor water use by as much as 20%.

Place a plastic bottle in your toilet tank.
To cut down on water waste, place a few small pebbles or sand in two small plastic bottle to weigh them down. Finish filling the two bottles with water and place them in the toilet tank away from any operating mechanisms. This could save ten gallons of water per day.

Check you toilets for leaks.
To check a toilet for leaks, simply place a few drops of food coloring in the toilet tank. If the color begins to show in the bowl, without flushing, you have a leak and should attempt to repair it immediately.

Stop using your toilet as a wastebasket.
Each time you flush your toilet you use five to seven gallons of water. When you flush a cigarette butt, facial tissue, or other piece of small trash you waste water.

Take baths.
Taking a bath in a partially filled tub will use less water than all but the shortest showers.

Take shorter showers.
Every unnecessary minute spent in the shower can waste as many as ten gallons of water. Limit your time in the shower to the time it takes to get wet (then, turn the water off while soaping up), wash down, and then rinse off.

Install a water-saving showerhead or flow restrictor.
Low-flow showerheads will deliver as little as 1.25 gallons per minute, as compared to the standard 3.2 gallons. Hardware stores and plumbing supply stores carry water-saving showerheads and flow restrictors. These items are easily installed once purchased.

In the kitchen:

Only run a fully loaded dishwasher.
Dishwashers use the same amount of water whether it contains a full load or just a few pieces.

Drink water from a pitcher.
Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator for drinking rather than running water each time.

In the laundry:

Use the correct washer load size settings.
Most washers offer different water levels for small, medium, and large loads. Select the appropriate water level for your load of laundry and wait until you have a full load of clothes before running the washing machine whenever possible.

Outside:

Cover your pool.
Thousands of gallons of water can be lost through poolwater evaporation. Covering the pool will reduce this by 90%.

Clean your driveway with a broom or blower.
Hosing it down for five minutes wastes 25 gallons of water.

Water your lawn at night.
Water your grass between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. to prevent evaporation and allow more water to penetrate the soil.