As people become more aware of environmental issues, there is a growing movement to be more green. Not only will you be a better friend to the planet, you can save a lot of money. The average person can be quite wasteful with water and even small changes can make a huge dent in usage. Here are just a few simple ways to conserve water in the home:
Laundry
Laundry accounts for a big chunk of water usage and you can greatly reduce the amount by doing full loads of laundry, especially if you have an older washer. Conventional washers built before 2011 use about 40 gallons a load. Energy efficient ones use about 15.
If your washer does not automatically adjust water levels, do so yourself so you are not using more water than you need for that load.
Washing Dishes
If you do dishes by hand, it is more efficient to fill up the sink with water rather than continuously running the tap.
If you really want to save on water, investing in a dishwasher can be a great investment, especially with newer, energy-efficient models. Even standard ones will use less water than hand washing, particularly if you limit pre-rinsing.
Faucets
That leaky faucet may not strike you as a major drain on water, but it certainly is. A leak of 60 drops a minute will waste 192 gallons of water a month, which equals 2,304 gallons annually. That is no small amount of water.
You can also purchase more efficient faucets, or aerators that use no more than 1.5 gallons a minute. Look for the WaterSense label, which indicates efficiency.
And if you have a tendency to leave the water on when shaving, brushing your teeth or washing your face, turn it off. You saw the leaky faucets stats…imagine how much water can be saved that way.
Showers
A lot of headway can be made when it comes to showers, a major player in wasted water. According to Mr. Green Plumbing, a plumbing company in Westminster, CO, switching to a low flow shower head can reduce water use by as much as 70 percent!
Have no fear about weak showers. Models today are much improved and deliver the same water pressure as their conventional counterparts, while only using less than two gallons of water per minute. Because there is less water to heat up, there is the added bonus of saving on your electricity bill.
Taking shorter showers can also make a nice dent in water use. Cutting down a 10 -minute shower to just five can save 12.5 gallons at a time on more efficient shower heads and even more on traditional models.
Toilet
If your toilet was installed before 1994 you should consider replacing it with a high-efficiency toilet. The former uses 3.5 gallons per flush while the latter only uses 1.28.
Regularly check your toilet to ensure it is working properly as a running toilet can waste water to the tune of hundreds of gallons.