Water conservation is a good idea in both an environmental and financial sense. Unfortunately, water wastage is a huge issue in our current world. According to the EPA, the average American family wastes almost 180 gallons of water per week which adds up to almost 10,000 gallons a year! Even if you don’t really have an issue with your expensive water bill, you should still be concerned about the impact water wastage has on the environment.
Thankfully for us, there are so many ways of conserving water, and even making minute adjustments can have a huge impact. These are a few water conservation tips to help you save money and the environment.
Check Your Plumbing For Leaks
Small, minor leaks in our plumbing can waste up to 20 gallons of water a day, and if the leaks are larger, you could be wasting away hundreds of gallons daily! Most leaks can be spotted easily, but some require a little effort to find.
The easiest way to check for leaks in your pipes is by checking out your water meter dials. If all your faucets are closed and your dial is still turning, there is a possible leak in your plumbing system. Get all your plumbing leaks fixed if you want to conserve as much water as possible.
Wash Bigger Loads Of Laundry
Instead of doing multiple loads of laundry, wait for your laundry to pile up. Washing a full machine load uses less water than washing two separate loads. If you do have to wash smaller loads, make sure you adjust the water levels to match the size of your laundry load.
This water conservation tip should be applied to your dishwasher as well. The fewer loads these machines have to go through, the less water is wasted. Also, dishwashers nowadays don’t require dishes to be ‘pre-cleaned’ before they can be washed – so skip the ‘pre-clean’ and save even more water.
Get A Low-Flush Toilet
Switch your toilet flush to a high-efficiency one. Swapping out your toilet for a dual-flush, low-flush, or high-efficiency toilet can help you cut down water usage by up to 20%. New dual-flush toilets use almost half the amount of water for every flush when compared to traditional, old-style toilets.
Take Shorter Showers
Yes, we all love taking a long, warm, and relaxing shower sometimes, but that’s all it should be – sometimes. Long showers are one of the biggest contributors to water wastage and limiting our shower time to less than five minutes could save you a lot of water and money.
Try setting a timer on your phone to keep your showers as short as possible. Also, try installing an efficient showerhead. A water-efficient showerhead will still have the same water pressure and ‘feel’ your normal showerhead does and will also cut down your water bill.
Turn Off The Taps
Letting the taps run is a big problem we all have. Whether it is while brushing our teeth, shaving, or lathering up soap in the shower, most of us let the water run. This wastes a huge amount of water and should be prevented at all times. Only run the faucet when you need to.
Turn off the taps after wetting your toothbrush, while you soap up the dishes, and while you are adding shampoo to your hair. All of this will have a significant impact on your water conservation.
