Saving Water Saves Money

Conserving water will save you money. An average family uses approximately 250 gallons of water a day and spends between $400 and $500 a year for water and sewer.
Here are some easy ways to conserve water.

In The Bathroom:

Repair leaky toilets and faucets. A faucet dripping just one drop per second will waste over 2000 gallons a year. Replacing a washer in a faucet is an easy and inexpensive job. If your old toilet is leaking, replace the rubber flapper in the tank or fix a stuck flush handle.

Don't use the toilet to get rid of trash. Using a wastebasket instead of the toilet for tissues and other bits of trash will save gallons of water that are otherwise wasted.

Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth or shaving. Leaving the water run while you brush your teeth or shave will use from two to five gallons of water. Try just wetting your toothbrush, brushing and then quickly rinsing. Shave using a partially filled sink.

Take a shower instead of taking a tub bath. A half full tub uses approximately 30 gallons of water. A five-minute shower with a low-flow (2.5 gal/min) shower head uses only 12.5 gallons.

Replace an old 5-gallon per flush toilet with a new toilet that uses only 1.5 or 1.6 gallons per flush. Do not use bricks or filled pop bottles in the tank of an old toilet. If you try to reduce the water volume in old tanks you may need two flushes. Flushing twice does not save water.

In The Kitchen:

Keep a container of drinking water in your refrigerator instead of running the water at your sink until it is cold.

Add an aerator to your faucet to restrict water flow.

Wait until your dishwasher is full before you wash your dishes. Your dishwasher uses the same amount of water whether it is full or just partially full of dishes, so be sure to fill it.

Scrape your dishes instead of rinsing them under running water before loading them into the dishwasher.

Repair leaky faucets.

If you do hand wash your dishes, use a small plastic tub instead of a full sink.

Start a compost pile for your table scraps. Sink disposals require a lot of water to operate properly.

In The Laundry Room:

Wash clothes in cold water.

Wash only a full load of clothes or set the proper water level for the size of load you are doing. Each load of laundry uses between 25 and 50 gallons of water.

If your washing machine has a suds-saver, use it for a second load. By first washing a load of the cleaner clothes and then re-using most of the sudsy water for a second load, you save not only water but also detergent.

If you are shopping for a new washing machine, consider this: Front-loading machines use 40% less water than top loading machines.

Regularly check your washer’s hoses for cracks or leaks.

Pre-treat stains to avoid re-washing.

Every day, there are many simple little things we can do around the house to save water and money. Try some of these tips today!

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