Simple Ways to Save Water

1. Be smart when irrigating your lawn or landscape:

• Water the lawn or garden during the coolest part of the day.
• Set sprinklers to water lawns and gardens only – not the street or sidewalks.
• Use a cistern or rain barrel to capture and save stormwater for irrigation.

2. Use appliances wisely:

• Run the dishwasher or washing machines for only full loads.
• Scrape rather than rinse dishes before loading them into the dishwasher.

3. Don’t flush your money down the drain:

• A leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons of water per day. Check you toilet for leaks by adding food coloring to the tank. If the toilet is leaking, color will appear in the bowl within 15 minutes. If there is color in your toilet, flush as soon as the test is completed so as to not stain your bowl.
• When replacing your toilet, look for high efficiency models that use less than 1.3 gallons per flush.

4. Conserve around the house:

• Reduce the duration of showers. An extra 10 minutes in the shower can use 55 gallons of water.
• Turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth.

5. Stop those leaks:

• Repair dripping faucets and showers. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can expect to waste 2,700 gallons of water per year!

6. Update your water softener:

• If it’s time to buy a new water softener, consider investing in a next generation water softener. These machines only cycle when needed, rather than on a fixed schedule. This often reduces the water used per month. Talk to a specialist to see if this option makes sense for you.