Every concerned citizen wants to do their part as California gradually eases its way out of drought. Here are ten steps you can take today to save water in your home.
Fix leaks in your toilet and sinks
The innocuous drip in your sink may be costing you more than you think. A drip can result in up to 70 gallons of water lost per day which can be up to 20{ab662c498d58e1b7b34d33fa34ec831686a9fe77d0ca7e950f839577e113f39a} of a household’s yearly water use.
A toilet leak can result in up 22,000 gallons of water per year. Identifying a leaky faucet or sink is a simple as seeing or hearing the drip. In the case of a toilet a leak can be identified by adding dye tablets to the tank, if dye is seen in the bowl within 15 minutes this is indicative of a leaking toilet.
Wash your car at a car wash
Do you feel like washing the car on your day off? In the event you do make sure you use a sponge, a bucket and a hose with a nozzle. If you decide the idea of a dirty car is unfathomable limit washing to once a month. However, if you are looking maximize the saving go to a car wash as car washers are mandated to use recycled water.
Use your toilet for human activities and not trash
In many correctional facilities low flow toilets will clog as added water flow is needed to push contraband through its pipes. For those of us not incarcerated putting our trash in the can, and not wasting the 1.6 gallons per toilet flush, the trash can will do fine. Especially for lighter forms of paper, namely, tissue and toilet paper.
Limit your showers to 5 minutes
You are not going to get much cleaner after the first few rinse cycles. A timer goes a long way in preventing losing track of time. Instead of using a few added minutes of shower time to wake the first thing in the morning why not try a cup of coffee?
While brushing your teeth turn off the water except when you are rinsing off your toothbrush
What good does flowing the potable water down the drain while you floss and brush your teeth? The water is really needed to rinse off after finishing. Turning off the faucet will only take a second or so.
Wash laundry only when there are enough clothes to support a full load
The washing machine will use the same amount of water regardless of whether it is full or empty. The problem is the additional washes when added up over time can lead to a large amount of unnecessary water use.
Consider installing a Laundry to Landscape system
Until grey water systems become commonplace in our homes, and eventually they will be we will need to show a little leadership on this one. Green Water Action can provide you with all the required resources to use the water from your laundry your vegetable trees.
If you enjoy landscaping, consider using native plants
There are native plants designed to grow in specific areas. Find out what is considered native for your neighborhood.
Try to limit the time the shower runs while warming up to a comfortable temperature.
Many water heaters take a moment to warm up to where steam is coming out of the shower. This water simply goes down the drain. At two gallons per minute a few minutes of waiting for the water to warm can lead to water wastage. Think of it this way, after the initial shock of the cold water it should all good.
Try to compost your vegetables
Instead of using a garbage disposal which typical involves running additional water use these vegetable as nature has designed it. Come on, you know you have always wanted to compost in your back yard. Now is your chance.
For those of you who think that your action alone might not make a difference I say, perhaps, but if we collectively implement some of these practices, then who knows, restrictions to curtail our usage might become unnecessary…
