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Water Conservation Tips To Cut Household Bills
Water Conservation
- Retrofit all wasteful household faucets by installing aerators with flow restricteos.
- Kitchen
sink disposals require lots of water to operate properly. If you can,
try a compost pile as an alternate method of disposing food waste.
Garbage disposals also can add 50% to the volume of solids in a septic
tank which can lead to malfunctions and maintenance problems.
Dishwashers
- Use
the no-heat air-dry feature on your dishwasher if it has one. If you
have an older dishwasher you can turn the dishwasher off after the
final rinse cycle and open the door to allow air drying.
- Don't pre-rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.
- The dishwasher uses the same amount of water whether it's half-full or completely full, use full loads
Water Heaters
A family of four, each
showering for five minutes a day, uses 700 gallons of water a week;
this is enough for a three-year supply of drinking water for one
person.
- Place water heaters close to the points of use rather than having one tank and long lines of hot water piping.
- Lower
the thermostat setting on your water heater. Although some
manufacturers and installers set water heaters at 140, settings
between 115 and 120 work fine for many households.
- Showers save hot water, a 5-minute shower with an efficient shower head will use less than half the amount of water a bath uses
- Drain
a pail of water from your natural gas hot water tank every 3 months, or
as recommended by the manufacturer, to remove sediment that prevents
heat transfer, lowering the units efficiency.
- Insulate the water heater tank.
- Insulate your water pipes. You'll get hot water faster and avoid running cold water until it heats up.
- Install
low flow toilet systems (or place a plastic bottle filled with water in
your toilet tank to save some 11 gallons of water per day), low flow
shower heads and faucets.
- Modify
the washing machine control cycle to allow cold rinses only on all
cycles. Clean the dryer filter after each use. A clogged filter will
restrict flow and reduce dryer performance
- Consider using a commercial car wash that recycles water. If you wash your own car, park it on the grass.
Lawns:
Xeriscape landscaping is a great way to design, install and maintain
both your plantings and irrigation system that will save you time,
money and water. For a guide to Xeriscape landscaping, contact your
Water Management District or read our article on xerilandscaping
- Water lawns during the early morning hours when temperatures are the lowest. This reduces losses from evaporation.
- Avoid over fertilizing your lawn and mulch it to retain moisture.
- Try Planting native and/or drought-tolerant grasses, ground covers, shrubs and trees.
Leaks: Water Sub metering
enables residents to be directly responsible for their own water
consumption bill. Water sub metering encourages residents to report
leaks, so you can take care of small problems before they become major
repairs.
- Verify
that your home is leak-free, by reading your 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 is a leak
- Repair
dripping faucets by replacing washers. If your faucet is dripping at
the rate of one drop per second, you can waste 2,700 gallons per year
which will add to the cost of water and sewer utilities, or strain your
septic system.
- Check for toilet tank leaks by adding food coloring to the tank. If the toilet is leaking, color will appear within 30 minutes.
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