11 Effortless Ways To Conserve Water At Home

By UtilityTips - October, 4th 2014

We’ve all seen the photos of our nation’s lakes and reservoirs being at some of their lowest levels of all time. As the nation’s population continues to grow, competition for the dwindling water supply will grow as well. This will force municipalities to develop alternative water supplies and will be funded by our tax dollars. Water conservation in our own home can help slow this process and provide each household with considerable savings on monthly water bills.

Water supply planners estimate that a typical household uses 150,000 gallons per year. By being smarter with our daily usage activities we can easily lower this number. Water use inside the home can vary considerably depending on the number of people in the household, but the largest water using devices are toilets, washing machines, faucets, and showers. Consider the following suggestions to save water in these areas:

• Turn off the water when brushing your teeth and save 25 gallons per month.
• Shut off the water while shaving and save up to 300 gallons per month.
• Look for faucet and shower leaks each month and repair them in a timely manner to save up to 140 gallons per week.
• Install low-flow shower heads in each of your bathrooms.

• Keep your showers brief. Use a timer on your cell phone to help control the amount of time in the shower.
• Install low-flow aerators on your home’s faucets to restrict flow.
• Do not use your toilet as a wastebasket.
• Run the washing machine only when you have a full load of laundry.
• Select the minimum volume of water per load if your washer has a variable water volume setting.
• Running your dishwasher only when it’s full can save 1,000 gallons of water per month.
• Running a full dishwasher usually uses less water than washing the same amount of dishes by hand.

These changes may seem insignificant, but small changes add up over the course of a month or a year. They are all easy to implement and only take a little thought each day to make major water conservation happen. Plus you’ll notice a lower water bill. Tell us other home water saving ideas in the comments below.