Saving water in and around the house doesn’t necessarily necessitate into taking sponge baths or letting the grass die of thirst. Rather, it involves making use of some simple tips to reduce the amount of water used in the house daily. Here are 10 such tips that can help you save water efficiently in your home.
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Repair Leaks and Drips
Leaking faucets, showerheads, toilets, and pipes tend to lead to significant water wastage in the house. You may think it to be just a few drops of water here and there. However, collect all the leaked water and you couldbe surprised as to how many gallons of water you collect with these drops. Get these leaks and drips repaired pronto to save water in your home.
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Opt for water efficient fixtures
Water efficient fixtures can help save gallons of water otherwise used up in your home. For instance, you can choose to install water efficient showerheads that provide a stronger spray or flow of water while actually using less amount of water. You can also choose to upgrade the traditional low-flow toilet to a more modern, dual flush toilet which can flush out liquid and solid waste efficiently using less water for these purposes. Installing water efficient faucets can then complete the change that would allow your home to reduce its water wastage.
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Decrease toilet tank capacity
This may be a neat trick to allow your old toilet to function just like a more modern, eco-friendly model. Older toilets tend to use large amounts of water to flush away waste. You can reduce the amount of water used for the flush cycle by placing a brick or water bottles filled with sand inside the toilet tank. This will allow the reservoir to become full faster, thus making your toilet use less water for flushing.
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Turn off faucets
Many of us have the habit of leaving the faucet on and the water running as we brush or shave. This can lead to a lot of water being wasted. An easy way to curb this loss is to simply turn off the faucets after using them. For instance, you can turn on the faucet to rinse your mouth and toothbrush before brushing your teeth.
Following this, you can turn off the faucet and turn it on again only when you have finished brushing your teeth and are ready to rinse your mouth. Similarly, choose to fill the sink bowl with warm water. Use this water to clean your razor in between shaves rather than showing the razor under running water. These tips will reduce the amount of water wasted during these processes.
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Rinse the dishes in a pan
Rather than filling up the entire sink with warm water, consider rinsing your dishes in water collected in a pan before putting them inside the dishwasher. You can save a lot of water by cleaning your dishes this way.
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Water the plants once a week
Your plants require only an inch or two of water every two days or so for healthy growth. Using too much water will not only put your plants in danger of rotting away, but will also create water run-offs in and around your lawn.
Water your plants once in a week or so unless it is very dry in which case you can water them once every two days. It is wise to water the plants either early in the morning or late in the evening when evaporation is low and the plants can retain the water better.
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Use grey water for watering the plants
By grey water, we mean water that collects after washing your clothes and dishes. This grey water which is used but otherwise clean, can be used to water your plants. Install a grey water collection system in your home for the same purpose.
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Set up rainwater collection systems
This is as simple as placing a barrel under the roof’s run-off system. The water that collects on the roof will then automatically flow into the barrel, thus allowing you to collect water for washing clothes and watering your plants.
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Limit wash cycles to full loads
Always run your washing machine on full loads as you can waste a lot of water in running the machine for small loads of clothes. Even if you have only a few items of clothing you need to wash, consider washing them with less water. This will save plenty of water in your home.
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Don’t run the pool filter during the day
This nifty trick prevents your pool water from evaporating while running the filter. Make sure you run the filter at night to reduce water wastage this way.
There are plenty of ways in which you can reduce water wastage in and around your home. Rather than relying on expensive systems for the same purpose, you can follow a few basic tips to save water in and around your house.
