I really never gave a lot of thought to water. I turned on the shower, brushed my teeth, flushed the toilet and watered my garden without hesitation. I took it for granted. Sometimes I even wasted it.
Until I realized that the abundance of water is an illusion.
On hot days my kids run through a sprinkler in our back yard. The garden hose runs for a few hours.
- A garden hose uses 291 gallons of water per hour
There are 5 people in our family. The toilet is constantly flushing.
- The bathroom is the largest consumer of indoor water. The toilet alone can use 27 percent of household water. Older toilets use between 3.5 and 7 gallons of water per flush.
There are days when I shower twice a day.
- An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than a typical person in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.
I have fallen asleep to the sound of water dripping.
- If every household in America had a faucet that dripped once each second, 928 million gallons of water a day would leak away.
Nearly 1 billion people in the world don’t have access to safe, clean water. In the U.S. alone the population has more than doubled over the past 50 years and our need for water is steadily increasing while the supply is diminishing. There are at least 36 states facing the possibility of water shortage by 2013. The need to conserve water is becoming more and more critical.
10 simple ways to conserve water in and around your home
- Don’t rinse the dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. This could save up to 10 gallons of water per load.
- Install water-saving shower heads. Regular shower head uses 2 to 10 gallons per minute and water-saver shower heads use 2 to 5 gallons per minute.
- Take shorter showers. One way to cut down on water use is to turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse. A four-minute shower uses approximately 20 to 40 gallons of water.
- Turn off the water when you’re brushing your teeth and shaving. This could save up to 300 gallons of water per month.
- Fill your washing machine and dishwasher before running. Try to squeeze in that last dish or fit that pair of pants into the washing machine.
- Use mulch in your yard around trees and plants. Mulch holds the moisture in and plants will require less frequent watering.
- Don’t flush your toilet after every use (I know, counterintuitive). If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.
- Wash fruits and vegetables in a pan of water of clean water instead of running water from the tap.
- Collect and save the water used for rinsing fruits and vegetables and reuse it to water houseplants.
- Check your water meter for water leaks. Read the house water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there’s a leak.
If each one of us commits to doing just one of these things, we can help reduce the likelihood of water shortages both now and in the future.
[Photo used under Creative Commons from Li-Ji and Sharon Mollerus/Flickr]
Thanks for writing this, Lori. I think most of us take clean water for granted just because we turn on the tap and it’s there. An eye-opener for a lot of people 🙂
Thanks Amity. I know I certainly have taken for granted clean water. There are so many who don’t have it throughout the world.
Great list, Lori! I’d also add “wash your car less often”, because really, do they run better when clean? No. Let’s all admit this is purely an image-conscious action! Imagine how much water would be saved if all car owners washed their cars a handful of times less often each year?
Thanks Andrea! Great suggestion-my car is so dirty and it’s running just fine. I can only imagine how much water is used for each wash at the car wash. What a simple way to conserve water.
Ooh, I love the cleaning fruit tip. It makes sense not to run water while you clean fruit, and just do it in a pot. Smart gal!!
Nice tips! I’ve fallen out of the habit of doing this myself (my current shower is a tiny booth, and I have no outside space), but I used to collect the water from the shower while the water was heating up and use it to water plants or flush the toilet.
So I don’t have a dishwasher or washing machine…so I am saving water there. I water my plants with a watering can rather then a hose. I also shower with my bf in the mornings which helps us save water. I will work on the teeth brushing and vegetable cleaning. Great information! 🙂
Thanks Meg! Sounds like you are doing an amazing job conserving water. Teeth brushing is a hard one for me too-I really have to work hard to remember to turn the water off when I’m brushing!
Thanks Jennifer! Reusing shower water is a great suggestion for water conservation. What did you collect it in?
Hi Tiffany! Most of the tips are very simple-just hard to break old habits. I have a hard time remembering sometimes to turn the water off when I’m rinsing fruits and veggies and brushing my teeth!
I think it was a 2 gallon plastic bucket. Hubby and I tried the showering together thing, but we don’t think it actually saves much water.
Thanks for the info Jennifer. I think I would trip over a bucket in my shower 🙂 I like the showering together idea that Meg suggested-it must save water!!
Great suggestions. You right. there are simple things we can do like- turning off the tap while brushing or turning off the shower while applying soap.
How about adding rainwater harvesting to your list as well?
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Doing routine DIY plumbing inspections around your home is great way to gain visibility of your waste water situation. Great article.
Conserving water can also extend the life of your septic system by reducing soil saturation, and reducing any pollution due to leaks. Overloading municipal sewer systems can also cause untreated sewage to flow to lakes and rivers. The smaller the amount of water flowing through these systems, the lower the likelihood of pollution.
These are great tips! I’ve become a pro at squeezing dishes in the dishwasher. I know I need to cut back on my shower time.