How to Conserve Water at Home
Did you know the average person unknowingly wastes up to 30 gallons of water per day? That’s over 10,000 gallons lost over the course of a single year!
Using water efficiently is not only a key to conserving of one of our most precious resources, it can also help you cut down your monthly water bill.
By following a few of the EPA’s simple How to Conserve Water at Home tips listed below, you can cut gallons off your normal usage and help provide future generations with a clean, reliable water supply.
12 Ways to Conserve Water at Home
Tips 1-3: Stop Leaks and Conserve Water in the Bathroom
1. Fixing leaks
A small leak can add up to big water costs over the course of a year. In fact, the EPA estimates the average household leaks cause over 10,000 gallons of water to be wasted each year (per household). Fixing leaks help stop waste and can help prevent household water damage as well.
2. Turn off the tap
Turning off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving can help save up to two gallons of water per occurrence. This is such an easy thing to do and costs nothing! It’s also something the whole family can participate in.
3. Showers over baths
In general, showers use less water than baths do. As long as you keep your showering time reasonable, showers can help save water — especially if you have a WaterSense rated shower head.
Tips 4-6: Conserve Water in the Kitchen
4. Use a dishwasher
Load up that dishwasher and start saving! A fully-loaded dishwasher is the most economical way to clean your plates. No dishwasher? Plug the sink or wash basin if washing the dishes by hand.
5. Scrape your plate
Scraping your plate before washing it helps cut down on the amount of water needed to clean it. By skipping the rinse step, you save water and can start a compost pile (see the next way to save for more on composting).
6. Thaw food in the refrigerator
Thawing food by moving it from the freezer to the fridge overnight can help save several gallons of water. It may be a small task, but small tasks can lead to big water savings over a month!
Tips 7-9: Conserving Water Outdoors
7. Watering your lawn smarter
Knowing when and how much to water your lawn is just as important as weeding your garden. Upgrading sprinklers to more efficient models, using a WaterSense rated irrigation controller (if you have an in-ground irrigation system), and watering in the evening once temperatures have dropped will all help stretch your water farther.
8. Use a compost pile
Instead of using your garbage disposal and loads of running water to dispose of food waste, start a compost pile in your yard. Your water bill and yard will thank you! Compost piles help enrich your soil and cut down on the amount of chemical fertilizer you need. In addition, composting also helps keep more items out of landfills.
9. Water smart landscaping
Caring for your landscape can be a very water-consuming task. You can make your yard or garden more conservation friendly by planting native plants and/or using drought tolerant plants, utilizing water runoff from your house or street, and aerating your soil.
Tips 10-12: Saving Water while Cleaning
10. Only wash full loads of laundry
Have a rogue, dirty shirt you need to wash? Don’t wash it by itself! Fill the washer up and do a full load. This helps cut down on water waste and makes the most of of the water your washer does use. Bonus points for washing in cold water too!
11. Bucket wash your car
A standard garden hose uses roughly 10 gallons of water per minute, so even a 10 minute at-home wash can use over 100 gallons of water. Filling a bucket and washing the car by hand can save dozens of gallons of water and will keep your water bill from rising. For further savings, use a pressure washer on low, as they typically use 2-5 gallons per minute.
12. Sweep rather than spraying
Spraying your driveway or walkways clear of debris is easy, but wastes a lot of water while doing so. Put down the hose and pick up the broom — and watch your water bill drop in the process! Another simple step that can help add to those monthly water savings.
More Ways to Save
Another great way tosave costs on your monthly utilities is to sign-up for a low cost energy plan through a utility broker. We partner with Gold Star Energy to help save home owners and renters alike up to 20% on their utility bills. No gimmicks, no hassle – it takes two minutes to get a quote and in less than 10 minutes you could be signed up for a new lower cost energy plan that could save you hundreds per year.
Same electricity, same power lines, same service – so why pay more than you have to?
Click here to learn more or visit gseusa.com to sign-up.
The average family spends over $1,000 on their yearly water bill, but can save over 30% of that cost by upgrading to WaterSense fixtures and ENERGY STAR® qualified appliances. A full-sized Energy Star certified washer only uses around 13 gallons of water per load, compared to the 23 gallons used by a non-Energy Star certified machine. That’s a savings of more than 3,000 gallons of water per year! Appliances have a higher initial cost, but are one of the top ways to conserve water at home.
To read more about Energy Star and WaterSense appliances and fixtures, visit https://www.epa.gov/watersense/start-saving
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