Here are some tips we follow regularly:
Bathroom
Bathroom use accounts for about 75 percent of the water used inside the home.
- Check regularly for any leaks in your toilet, faucets and water hose bibs and fix them. Water saved: up to 200 gallons per day.
- Install a low-flow showerhead. Water saved: about 2 gallons per minute.
- Replace older, larger-use toilets with the newer higher efficiency toilets. Water saved: .5 to 5 gallons per flush.
- Take short showers and save the baths for special occasions. Water saved: 2 to 5 gallons per minute
Kitchen
About 8 percent of in-home water use takes place in the kitchen.
- Don't rinse dishes before loading dishwasher. Water saved: 20 gallons per load.
- Wash only full loads in the dishwasher. An efficient dishwasher usually uses much less water than washing dishes by hand.
- Install a low-flow faucet aerator, which can cut water use in half. Water saved: 1 to 2 gallons per minute.
- When buying a new dishwasher, consider purchasing a water-saving model. (New models use up to 25 percent less water than older ones.) Water saved: 3 gallons per load.
- Wash only full loads in the clothes washer. Washing small loads uses over twice as much water per pound of laundry.
- When buying a new clothes washer, consider purchasing a water-saving model. Water saved: up to 40 gallons per load.
- Insulate hot water pipes where possible to avoid long delays (and wasted water) while waiting for the water to "run hot." When building a new home, keep the distance short between the water heater and showers and other places that hot water is used.
