You already know how important it is that we all try to reduce our use of water. Our planet’s
future depends on it! And, there are so many practical and surprisingly easy ways for us to do
that.
So, here are seven really practical ways for you to conserve water in your home…
Monitor your water bills
Check your water bill each month and if it goes up try to figure out if there’s a good reason
(filling the swimming pool). If it spikes and you don’t know why, you probably have a leak
somewhere.
Seriously, the average home wastes more than 10,000 gallons of water a year from easily fixable
plumbing leaks. It’s worth it to bring in a plumber if you suspect you have a leak but cannot find
it.
Use the water meter to check for hidden water leaks
Go read your water meter and write down the number. Stop using water for two hours. Then go
back to the meter. If it’s not at the exact same number, there’s a water leak in your house. If you
can’t find it, call your home services company to send out a plumber.
Use every drop
Find ways to repurpose water so it doesn’t just go down the drain. For example, when you boil
potatoes or pasta, pour that water through a colander and into another pot to capture the hot
water. After it’s cooled, this water can be used for your household plants. You can do something
similar whenever you run the tap and wait for hot water.
Use your dishwasher more
You might be surprised, but as it turns out washing dishes by hand uses a lot more water than
running the dishwasher, and even more so if you have a newer more water-efficient model.
Newer dishwashers will also adjust to use less water for smaller loads. (If you don’t have a
newer dishwasher, see #7.)
Run full loads in your washing machine
You can adjust water levels to match the size of your load, but it’s even more water-efficient to
run larger loads in your washing machine.
Cover your swimming pool
It takes a lot of water to fill your swimming pool and to keep it filled. In the summer sun, pools
can lose an inch or more of water each week to evaporation. Getting a cover for your pool can
save thousands of gallons of water each season. Make it a solar blanket and you can also reduce
your heating cost. But this only works if you’re diligent about covering the pool when it’s not in
use.
Install a new dishwasher
Newer dishwashers use as little as four to seven gallons per load—again that’s a lot less than
washing by hand and much less than older dishwashers.
Summary
If we all work on conserving water, we can make a big difference. While taking these practical
steps, be sure to contact a home services company if you need help finding a water leak or
installing a new dishwasher.
