12 Simple Tips for Conserving Water at Home

Whether you live in an area prone to drought or not, conserving water is a worthwhile endeavor for your wallet and the environment. Water treatment requires a lot of resources and at a great cost to the planet we live on. These easy tips can help you reduce the amount of water you consume without too much effort or thought – mostly:

1. Take showers. Reasonable showers (not long relaxation showers) use less water than your average bath.
2. Take a shorter shower. Get the morning routine down pat and minimize the time you spend waking up in the shower. Grab a cup of coffee before you hop in if you must. As a bonus, the reduced time spent in that steamy water will be much easier on your skin (oh the dryness!)
3. Always run your dishwasher as a full load. Don’t pack it in so tight that you can’t get the dishes clean, but running a half full machine is just no good.
4. Always run a full washing machine. Same as above. There’s no need to wash just a few items. If you can’t make a full load, think about any bedding, curtains, or table cloths that might need washed.
5. Water your plants with grey water reclaimed from the shower (provided you use safe products) or water left from boiling pasta, rinsing produce, etc.
6. Install a grey water system. If you want to go all out on grey water, you can even install a house system to make it easier!
7. No leaks! Be sure to check faucets, and the pipes below, a few times a year to be sure that there are no leaks. Those costs can really add up – especially when damage becomes involved.
8. Turn of the faucet. Turn it off when you are brushing your teeth or hand-washing dishes. There’s no need to leave that faucet running when you aren’t using it and this is an especially important lesson to model for kids – who tend to be a bit forgetful.
9. Install low-flow shower heads and faucets. These fixtures have special features that choke down the water flow, but good ones won’t make you sacrifice on water pressure, so be sure to shop around and read reviews!
10. Drop a full water bottle in your toilet’s tank. This will reduce the amount of water needed to fill the tank — saving water with ever flush!
11. Keep drinking water in the fridge, if you prefer it cold. This will save water over running the cold water until it meets your temperature needs. For healthier drinking water, choose one with a good filter. You’d be surprised to learn what’s in municipal water.
12. Use a bucket to wash your car, and get a clean one to rinse it off. It’ll use much less water than your hose and be just as effective.