WATCH THOSE LEAKS!!!
Faucet Aerators
Loads of Savings
Bathroom
Utility Room
Kitchen
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Watch for and Fix Leaking Plumbing. Dont Be a Drip!
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The best way to save water indoors is just to pay attention, find leaks and fix them. Fix that leaky faucet and save 20 gallons per day! Fix that toilet that always runs and save 30-50 gallons per day!!
One quick way to find out if you have a leak is to stop all water use in your house, find your water meter (usually on the edge of the property within a meter box at ground level), and see if the dials/numbers are moving. If they are, you have a leak somewhere in your house.
Studies have found that some homes waste more than 10% due to leaks – make sure that’s not you!
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If the stream of water coming out of your faucet looks the same as your garden hose, that means you don’t have an aerator installed. Faucet aerators are incredibly cheap ($2-5), easily installed (think lightbulb), and will save 4.7 gallons per day. Just watch how often you use your faucets in one day, and you’ll see those savings add up fast. Install aerators on ALL the faucets in your house!
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Misery loves company? So do dirty clothes and greasy dishes! Run only full loads in your clothes and dish washers, and save 300-800 gallons per month!! Go ahead, discover the bottom of that shirt drawer.
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- Soap, Rinse, and Go! Keep showers to less than 10 minutes.
Water Savings: up to 700 Gallons per Month
- Break that habit!!! Turn off water when brushing teeth or shaving.
Water Savings: over 240 Gallons per Month
- Toilet ≠ Trash! Throw that used tissue half a foot to the left.
Water Savings: 400-600 Gallons per Month
 Replace that old toilet. Toilets installed before 1992 may use anywhere from 3.5-8 gallons per flush – way more than necessary (one hopes). The plumbing code has required all toilets made after 1992 to be low-flush ($50 rebate), meaning 1.6 gallons per flush or less. New high efficiency toilets ($150 rebate) use 1.3 gallons per flush or less, and may include pressure-assist or dual-flush features. The new toilet technology works!!!
Water Savings: 2.2-3.8 Gallons per Flush
- Replace your old showerhead with one that uses 2.5 gallons per minute or less. Old showerheads use up to ten gallons per minute. To test your shower’s flowrate, put a 5-gallon bucket in the shower, turn on full blast, and time for exactly 2 minutes. If the bucket overflows, your showerhead uses more than 2.5 gallons per minute.
Water Savings: 1,000s of Gallons per Month
- Keep that bucket handy – stick it under your shower while waiting for the water to heat up, and use the saved water in your garden or on indoor plants.
- Turn off water while soaping up in the shower or at the sink.
- What taking a bath, start filling tub with drain plugged rather than waiting for water to get warm first. Also, don’t overfill – it won’t make you any cleaner! And if you really want to save water, reuse bathtub water on outdoor plants.
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- Replace your top-loader with front-loading, high efficiency clothes washer ($100 rebate) with a water factor of 6.0 or less.
Water Savings: 20-30 Gallons per Load
- Pretreat clothing stains to avoid rewashing, and use shortest wash cycle for lightly soiled loads.
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- When dish washing by hand, fill the sink for rinsing, don’t leave water running unless sink is plugged, and turn faucet off when not in use.
Water Savings: 2.5 Gallons per Minute
- A heavy drinker? Reduce the times you have to run your dishwasher or the amount of hand washing by assigning drinking glasses each day to family members. Also, keep a pitcher of cold water in the fridge to avoid waiting for faucet water to cool.
- Veggie-savings: Don’t run water when washing vegetables – instead, use a filled pan or sink, and then, if possible, reuse the water to irrigate growing vegetables and complete the cycle! Also, cooking vegetables in the microwave requires less water than steaming them on top of the stove. If you must steam, combine several vegetables together.
- A thaw-tful tip: It’s healthier and safer to thaw frozen foods in the fridge instead of under running water – and (you guessed it) it saves water!
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