NDS offers 10 water-saving tips- some are my personal favorites while others were contributed by my fellow employees and like-minded friends.
1. Start slowly and make continuous, small improvements over time. For example, begin your efforts inside or outside - not both – and then move on from there. Otherwise, it may become overwhelming and you’re more likely to stop.
2. Fix leaky faucets right away! These are huge water-wasters! If you don’t believe it, consider this: a running toilet wastes more than ten gallons of water each day and a drippy faucet can leak up to 3,000 gallons of water each year! Do the math... that’s not only a lot of water – and money – down the drain!
And here’s a related tip: If you want to make sure that you don’t have an “invisible” toilet leak, add food coloring to the tank water and wait about twenty minutes. If any of the coloring seeps into the bowl, you probably have a leak.
3. Become friends with your water meter. Apparently, many people don’t even know where to find their water meters, let alone check them regularly! If this sounds like you, my advice is to find yours and then use it to test whether you have a leak somewhere in your home.
Here’s how... First, run a bath, take a shower, or do the dishes, then, check your water meter and note the reading. Next, leave everything off for at least two hours and recheck your meter’s reading. If the your gauge is lower than it was previously, you may have an internal leak somewhere in your home.
4. Shut off the water while you shave, brush your teeth, or during any of your other sink “rituals.” Experts estimate that this practice alone could save you nearly 100 gallons per year, per person.
5. Lop two minutes off of your shower time. You’ll probably never notice the difference and merely cutting your shower time by two minutes can save as much as 12,000 gallons of water per year. First, grab a timer (one with an alarm) and take your “normal” shower. Check the time. Then, the next time you take a shower set your timer for two minutes less than your last shower, and when the alarm rings, turn off the water.
By the way, you’ll also save money on the energy required to heat your water. Oh, and another thing... showers are more energy – and water – efficient than baths.
6. Install low-flow (or restricted) shower heads in your bathrooms. They use a lot less water and are readily available in hardware and department stores. Additionally, they’re easy to install and very affordable.
7. Reduce the amount of water used per toilet flush by placing a milk container or 20-ounce soda bottle inside the tank. First, be sure your container is out of the way of any moving parts, and then fill it with pebbles or sand (so it stays put on the bottom). This will displace up to 50% of the flushed water. Another alternative? Install a low-volume flushing toilet!
8. Don’t waste tap water by running it for a while so it gets cold. While you may prefer to drink cold tap water, you may also have to run it for several minutes before it gets cold enough. But there’s a very simple way to solve this problem; fill containers with drinking water and store them in your refrigerator.
9. Compost anyone? Cut back on your garbage disposal usage (they suck up a lot of water) and toss your leftovers into a compost pile for your garden instead. Your wallet, and your plants, will thank you.
10. Run your dishwasher – and washing machine – only when you have full loads. If not, you’re wasting too much energy and water.
Now that I've shared some ideas for saving water, helping the environment, and cutting back on utility bills, I'd like to hear from you. Please email your water-saving secrets to me at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . I'll publish the best ones on this website, along with your name, so please join me in making a difference one idea at a time!
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Tiffany Guerra, BA, MS, is an environmentalist, strategic marketing manager for NDS and a freelance writer. Tiffany is passionate about helping people reduce their carbon footprints using practical, affordable, and uncomplicated methods. As such, she regularly contributes articles on topics such as the benefits of green spaces, the conservation of water, and more, to this website and other online publications.
Read more: 10 Trouble-Free Tips for Saving Water Inside Your Home http://www.ndspro.com/articles/library/10-trouble-free-tips-for-saving-water-inside-your-home/#ixzz1cDsnmgs1
