There are a number of easy ways to save water, and they all start with YOU. When you save water, you save money on your utility bills. Here are just a few ways...
Older toilets use as much as 20 gallons of water per person, per day. Replacing an old toilet with a newer one can save an average household from 8,000 to 22,000 gallons of water in a single year.
- Toilets can account for almost 30% of all indoor water use. Don’t use your toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket, every time you flush you’re wasting gallons of water.
- Installing an ultra-flow toilet uses just 1.6 gallons per flush. (Older toilets use 3.5 – 7 gallons per flush.)
- Approximately 20% of toilets leak. Check for leaks by placing a few drops of food coloring in the tank. If the dye shows up in the bowl after 15 minutes, your toilet has a leak. Usually, replacing the flapper will solve toilet leaks inexpensively.
- Placing one or two one-quart bottles filled with water in the tank of an older toilet can save you as much as 1,000 gallons of water per person, per year.
- Leaks in your sink or bathtub faucets can usually be repaired easily and inexpensively by replacing the rubber O-ring or washer inside the valve.
- If a one-gallon bucket placed under the shower flow takes less than 20 seconds to fill, replace your showerhead with a low-flow one (less than 2.5 gallons/minute).
- Take shorter showers. A four minute shower uses approximately 20 to 40 gallons of water.
- Turn off the water when shaving or brushing your teeth and you’ll save an average of 5 gallons per person, per day.
- Minimize the use of kitchen sink garbage disposal unit. Garbage disposals require lots of water to operate properly, and also add considerably to the volume of solids in sewage system, which can lead to maintenance problems. Start a compost pile an alternate method of disposing food waste.
- Don’t leave the water running when washing dishes, rinsing dishes or cleaning vegetables.
- Keep a pitcher of drinking water in the fridge. Running tap water to cool it off for drinking water is wasteful. Store drinking water in the fridge in a safe drinking container.
- Use washing machine for only full loads of clothes.
- Insulate your water pipes. It’s easy, inexpensive and can save a pipe from freezing and bursting in cold weather.
- Recycle water where you can. Collect the cold water you run before it’s hot enough to shower and use it to water plants. Rinse water from dishes and food preparation can be collected and used to soak other dishes.
- Use your water meter to check for hidden leaks by turning all water sources off and reading your water meter. Wait a half-hour and take another reading. If the dial has moved, you have a leak.
