Tips
Indoor Conservation Tips
Bathroom Conservation Tips
- Install water saving shower heads – saves 500 to 800 gallons a month.
- Take shorter showers – even a one or two-minute reduction can save up to 700 gallons a month.
- Capture tap or shower water while you wait for hot water, and use it later on house plants or in the garden – saves 400 to 600 gallons a month.
- Replace your old water guzzling toilet (3.5 to 7 gallons per flush, gpf) with a high efficiency toilet (1.28 gpf) – saves over 700 gallons a month.
- Turn off the water while shaving, brushing your teeth, and lathering in the shower.
- Don’t use the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket – saves up to 400 gallons a month.
- Take baths instead of showers. A partially filled tub uses less water than all but the most brief shower – saves 15 to 20 gallons each time.
Kitchen Conservation Tips
- If you wash dishes by hand don’t leave the water running for rinsing. If you have two sinks, fill one with rinse water. Otherwise, use a spray device or short blasts from the faucet – saves 20 to 500 gallons a month.
- Don’t defrost frozen food with running water. Place frozen items in the refrigerator overnight or defrost in the microwave – saves 50 to 150 gallons a month.
- Don’t let the faucet run while you clean vegetables. Rinse them in a filled sink or pan – saves 150 to 250 gallons a month.
- Use the garbage disposal less and the garbage can more – saves 50 to 150 gallons a month.
Other Indoor Conservation Tips
- Fix leaky faucets and plumbing joints – saves about 20 gallons a day for each leak stopped.
- Run only full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher – saves 300 to 800 gallons a month.
- Run only full loads in dishwasher and washing machine.
- Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. This beats the wasteful habit of running tap water to cool it for drinking – saves 200 to 300 gallons a month.
- If you have a fish tank, use the dirty water from the tank on your house plants. It’s rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, which gives you a good fertilizer.
Outdoor Conservation Tips
Lawn and Garden
- Water your lawn only when it needs it. Step on your grass – if it springs back when you lift your foot, it doesn’t need water. So set your sprinklers for less frequent watering – saves 750 to 1500 gallons a month. Better yet, in times of drought, water with a hose.
- Water during the cool parts of the day. Early morning is better than evenings since it will help prevent fungus and mildew growth – saves 300 gallons a month.
- Don’t water on windy days when evaporation is high – this can waste up to 300 gallons in one watering.
- Cut down watering schedules during the cool, rainy season – adjust or deactivate your automatic irrigation timer – saves up to 300 gallons each time.
- Set your lawn mower blades (or ask your gardener) one notch higher – longer grass means less evaporation – saves 500 to 1500 gallons a month.
- Don’t water the sidewalks, driveway, street, or the side of your house. Adjust sprinklers so the water lands on your lawn or garden – where it belongs – saves 500 gallons a month.
- Replace high-water using trees, shrubs, and plants (especially lawns) with less thirsty ones. But remember, even drought-resistant plantings take extra water to get them established in the garden. Save up to 750 to 1500 gallons per month
- Put a layer of mulch around trees and plants. Shredded leaves/bark, peat moss or gravel slows down evaporation – saves 750 to 1500 gallons a month.
Washing Your Car
- Don’t run the hose while washing your car – use a bucket of water and a quick hose rinse at the end – saves 150 gallons each time. That’s a significant amount of water if you wash your cars frequently.
- Take your car to a car wash if you can – generally, most car washes filter and recycle a high percentage of the wash/rinse water which is very resource efficient.
Other Outdoor Conservation Tips
- Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways, patios and sidewalks – saves 150 gallons or more each time. At once a week, that’s more than 600 gallons a month.
- If you have a pool, use a cover to cut down on evaporation – it will also keep the pool cleaner – saves 1000 gallons a month.
- If your home has an evaporative cooler, direct the water drain line to a garden area or the base of a tree or shrub.