

Easy Ways to Save Water throughout your House
Small and large changes that can add up to big savings
Water is one of our most precious
resources. From science class, we know
that the majority of the earth is covered in water, yet only 1% of that water
is available to humans. Most water is
either frozen or is salt water such as what is found in oceans and some lakes. (EPA)
So the question is are you and
your family doing all that you can to conserve water? The average American family uses ~7,100
gallons of water a month. (Water
Research Foundation, 2011) If you use
public water, go grab your last bill and check what your monthly usage is. If you are below the average, great job, but
how about seeing how low you can go! If
you are over the average, not to worry, we have a bunch of straight forward
changes that will help you reduce your water usage.
Minimize the Water you Flush Away
The primary water consumers in the
home are your toilets (approximately 28% of indoor water usage for American
families). As a first step, make sure
that your toilet is not leaking any water between flushes. A toilet leak can waste up to 200 gallons of
water a day. (Niagara Conservation) To determine if this is the case put several
drops of vegetable dye or several tablespoons of a powdered fruit drink mix in
the toilet basin. Be sure to put enough
dye in the tank water to give the water a deep color. Wait 30 minutes and make
sure nobody uses the toilet. After
waiting, if you find any of the dyed water in the toilet bowl -- your toilet is
leaking.
The question will be then be
whether you can fix the leak yourself or if you need an entirely new
toilet. You can call your plumber or if
you want to investigate more on your own, read this informative article, Toiletology 101, that gives
tips on how to fix a leaky toilet.
If you are ready to purchase a new
toilet be sure to get one that has received an EPA WaterSense rating. The key is to compare how many gallons per
flush the toilet is rated at. Prior to
1994 most toilets averaged 3.5 gallons per flush. Since then toilets tend to be in a range from
1 to 2.5 gallons per flush. Given an
average household that flushes 11 times per day any reduction in gallons per
flush will add up quickly.
Other ways to Save Water with your Toilet
Some might know the old saying, “If
it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down”. This practice of not flushing if there is
only urine in the toilet provides another way to save water by reducing the
number of times you flush the toilet each day.
Remember that a toilet should not be left un-flushed more than a day or
the bowl will become dirty and stinky.
If you do not have a low flow
toilet, you can reduce the water used in each flush by adding a small jug of
water to the toilet basin. Fill a half
gallon container such as a plastic milk bottle with pebbles and water. If you just fill it
with water, the container will move around in the tank and interfere with the flushing
mechanism. Place the container in the
tank. This solution is not recommended
for a low flow toilet as it has been designed to use a certain amount of water
and reducing this flow could cause issues.
Faucets can be a Major Water Hog
Check all of your faucets for
drips. If you have any, you should fix
them as soon as possible. If you need to
call a plumber, you might not want to take on that expense, but know that you
will save water and money in the long run.
If a faucet drips at a rate of one drop per second, you can waste 2,700
gallons per year. (Niagra Conservation)
The next easy step is to install
an aerator in each faucet. Aerators
restrict the water flow into many tiny streams which reduces the overall amount
of water used. It will also increase the
water pressure of the flow. If an
aerator is already installed on your faucet, it will have its rated flow
imprinted on the side. The rating will
be listed as X.X gpm (gallons per minute). If the rating is over 2.75, replace it for a
model with a lower gpm rating. If no
aerator is installed, check to see if there are threads just inside the tip of
the faucet. Most modern faucets are threaded so that an aerator can be screwed
in.
You should be able to find
aerators at your local hardware store or at Lowes or Home Depot. We also provide a link to purchase one via
Amazon in the Recommended Products section to the right. Most are very inexpensive usually costing
less than $10.
Moving into the Kitchen
Do you have an Energy Star
dishwasher? If yes, do you rinse your
dishes prior to putting them in the dishwasher?
If yes, this is an easy change that will save you 20 gallons of water per
cycle. (energystar.gov) If you do two loads of dishes a week that adds up
to 2,020 gallons of water a year. Energy
Star dishwashers and actually most dishwashers manufactured since 1994 are
built to easily handle food residue. Always try to do a good job scraping remaining food off of your plate and then let your dishwasher finish the work. For very dirty dishes let them soak before
putting them in the dishwasher.
When you do need to rinse dishes
or pans be careful not to let the water continuously run. Turn it on and off as needed. Another suggestion is to fill up the sink basin
for water so that you can use it for the initial washing and then just run
water as needed for rinsing. Also, don’t
turn your water on at full speed unless it is really required.
If you do not have an Energy Star
dishwasher, consider purchasing one.
You will save water by not rinsing your dishes, these appliances are designed to use less water to clean the dishes, and you will also save
electricity with each load. Go to www.energystar.gov for more information.
One other tip in the kitchen is to
dump extra water into your watering can to be used later to water plants. Extra water can be found in water glasses,
refillable water containers, and even in steamer pots for vegetables and pasta.
Back to the Bathroom
One personal ritual that uses a
lot of water is personal hygiene. Don’t
worry, we are not going to suggest that you stop bathing! But you can make smarter choices when you
wash. First, showers typically use much
less water than baths. And that water
usage will be further reduced if you use a low flow showerhead. A full bathtub typically requires about 70
gallons of water, versus 15 gallons by taking a 6 minute shower using a 2.5 gpm
low flow showerhead. That adds up to 1,375
less gallons of water used a month if you took 25 showers during that time.
Getting back to the low flow
showerhead… I know I too want strong water pressure when I take a shower. I promise that when I switched to a 2.5 gpm
shower head I did not notice a difference in water pressure. As with a faucet aerator, it should be easy
to screw off your current shower head and replace it with a new one. You can find low flow showerheads at your
local hardware store, Lowe’s, and Home Depot.
We also provide a link to purchase one via Amazon in the Recommended
Products section to the right. Most are inexpensive
usually costing less than $15.
If you take showers, time how long
you spend in the shower. Think about
your bathing rituals and see if there is anything that you can change that would
shorten the length of your shower. I
finally found a 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner that I liked. This change allowed me to shave a minute off
my shower length. Another thing you can
do is to turn off the water while you are lathering up your hair and body. Personally, I get cold easily, so I haven’t
made this change, but if you are up for it, you will definitely save water with
this practice.
And then finally, just as with
washing dishes, pay attention to when water is running while at the bathroom sink. Does it need to be running the entire time while
you are brushing your teeth? Do you need
to fill up your rinse glass to the top or would ¼ or ½ full be enough
water?
Things to remember:
- Check all faucets and toilets for leaks. If you find any, fix immediately!
- Don’t rinse before putting dishes in the dishwasher (as long as it was made before 1994).
- Purchase faucet aerators and low flow showerheads to reduce the amount of water you use every day.
- Look for EnergyStar rated dishwashers and toilets when you are ready to replace your old ones.
- Avoid letting water run when you don’t need to be – washing dishes, washing hands, brushing teeth.
Recommended products:
Here some links to some great water saving products: