Save Water

1. Turn the faucet tap off while you are brushing your teeth, shaving, washing your hands, doing dishes, and so on. Turn the tap off when you shower, too. Get wet, then turn off the water while you soap up. Turn it back on for long enough to rinse. Look for a twist valve that installs behind your shower head to keep the water temperature where you set it while the water is off.Catch the cold water that comes out of the faucet, tap, or shower while y .....

Install low flow shower heads and faucets or faucet aerators

2. Low flow devices are inexpensive ($10 $20 for a shower head and less than $5 for a faucet aerator). Most simply screw into place (you may need an adjustable wrench), and good, current units maintain the pressure and feel of the flow while using as little as half as much water as conventional units. .....

Replace your clothes washing machine with a high efficiency washer

3. Old style top loading washers use 40 to 45 gallons per load, and the average family of four runs 300 loads per year. High efficiency washers, typically front loading, use only 15 to 30 gallons per load. This works out to a savings of 11,400 to 34,000 liters (3000 to 9000 gallons) per year. .....

Wash full laundry or dish loads

4. Wait until you have a full load of clothes before you wash a load. Dont wash a load of clothes just because you want to wear the same pair of pants the next day. When washing your clothes be sure to use the economy mode and this will save you both water and electricity. This goes for dishwashers, too. Load the dishwasher full but not overly full. Dont wash your dishes before you wash your dishes. Do scrape larger pieces of food waste into the tra .....

Do less laundry

5. For this, you and your family will have to produce less laundry, but you will save time and wear and tear on your fabrics, as well. Unless your clothes are obviously dirty or smell bad there is really no point in washing them.Hang towels on a rack to air dry after you shower. Use them multiple times between washings. It will help if each family member has his or her own towel. Get several coordinating colors, if need be.Wear clothing more than on .....

Check your plumbing for leaks

6. especially leaking toilets and faucets. Fix anything you find leaking. A silent toilet leak could waste from 30 to 500 gallons every day. .....

Take shorter showers

7. Take a timer, clock, or stopwatch into the bathroom with you and challenge yourself to cut down your showering time. Shave outside the shower, or turn off the shower while you shave. Take showers rather than baths. By taking a bath, you are using up to 100 liters of water. Showering will generally use less than a third of this amount. See the water use table below. Install a valve that fits just behind the shower head. These valves are inexpensiv .....

Use waste water or gray water from the bath

8. If possible, hook up a hose to the outlet on your machine to send the water outside onto your garden. To re use bath water use a hand operated Syphon Pump. When hand washing dishes, rinse the dishes into a container, and empty the container into your garden.Collect water for re use anytime you are running the water waiting for a particular temperature. Simply run it into a bucket, watering can, or pitcher.If you collect clean water (such as while .....

Use your garbage disposal sparingly

9. Garbage disposals use a lot of water to get rid of the garbage, and are completely unnecessary. Collect solids in the trash can or a homemade compost bin rather than washing them down the sink. .....

Convert your toilet to low flush

10. Place a plastic bottle of water in the tank to displace some of the water used for each flush. Weigh the bottle down with pebbles or sand, if necessary. Or, try ordering a save a flush or hippo from your local water board.Not all toilets will be able to flush effectively with a reduced amount of water, so make sure that you check that your toilet does.Make sure theres a lid on the bottle, especially if there are pebbles or sand weighing it down. .....

Get or create a dual flush toilet

11. This is basically a toilet that flushes a smaller amount of water for when you pee and more water for pooping, thereby saving water. Use the half flush button with a dual flush toilet. You can also buy a dual flush conversion kit to turn your water guzzling toilet into a water saver you can be proud of. Search the web for devices like Selectaflush and Twoflush. They both work well and save money. .....

Make sure to use your toilet appropriately

12. Dont flush every time. Remember; If its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down. Also, dont use your toilet as a trash can. Each time you flush you use up to 9 liters of clean water, which is a lot of unnecessary waste. .....

Install a water meter

13. You might be very surprised to find out how much water you are actually using. By installing a water meter you can raise your awareness and consequently reduce your water intake.If you already have a water meter, learn how to read it. Among other things, it can be very helpful in detecting leaks. Read the meter once, wait an hour or two without running any water, and read it again. If it has moved, something is leaking.Many water meters have a sm .....

Care for your lawn in a more water efficient manner

14. Only water the areas that need it, and use a trigger nozzle on your house or water can to save water. You can also, catch the rain and use it for watering your plants, lawn or garden.Water the garden and lawn at night. Watering at night gives water more time to soak in without added evaporation from the days heat. Water deeply but less often. This will encourage plants to grow deeper roots, so that they need water less frequently. The roots o .....

Grow grass appropriately

15. Dont mow your lawn too short. Raise the height of your mower blade, or simply let it grow a bit longer between mowing. This way you wont have to use as much water.Grow no grass or less grass. Plant something besides a lawn or reduce the size of your lawn. Lawns require much more water (and maintenance) to keep growing than many other plants and ground covers.If you live in an area with infrequent rain, consider not planting grass and instead usin .....

Plant appropriately

16. Plant small trees under big trees. This will help prevent evaporation and provides some shade for your plants. You can also plant a shade garden under trees.Use mulch on your garden to retain moisture. Ideal mulch candidates include hay, manure, leaves, wood chips, bark, and newspaper. Many mulches are available for free or very low cost. The right organic mulch can also help improve your soil as it breaks down and keep weeds in check. Know how m .....

Cover your swimming pool

17. This helps to prevent evaporation. In some places, emptying and refilling a pool is under severe restrictions, or even banned, so preserving this precious resource is crucial. .....

Time water usage

18. Put a timer on your sprinkler and outdoor faucets taps. Look for inexpensive, automatic timers that screw between the hose and the hose bib, or install a programmable timer on your sprinkler or drip system. An automatic timer can also help you water at times of day when the water can best be absorbed.If you water something manually, set a kitchen timer before you turn the water on, or stay with the hose the whole time.Know how to adjust your spri .....

Maintain your sprinklers and irrigation

19. If you have irrigation on timers, watch it run. Fix broken sprinkler heads and pipes and make sure that spray patterns are directed where they are intended. .....

Wash the car on the lawn

20. Use a trigger nozzle hose and or bucket. There are even waterless spray and wipe car wash products, but they tend to be costly.Wash the car less often. Everyday dust and dirt wont harm anything if it collects for a little while.Wash the car at a car wash. Car washes may use less water than you can use at home. Car washes also collect and filter the waste water appropriately. Use environmentally friendly cleansers. This will enable you to reuse wa .....

Dont wash the driveway or sidewalk with a hose

21. Use a broom or rake, or leaf blower to remove dry matter and let the rain do the rest. Using a hose will only waste water and it wont hydrate anything. .....

Bathroom

22. Bathroom use accounts for about 75 percent of the water used inside the home.Check regularly for any leaks in your toilet, faucets and water hose bibs and fix them. Water saved up to 200 gallons per day. Install a low flow showerhead. Water saved about 2 gallons per minute.Replace older, larger use toilets with the newer higher efficiency toilets. Water saved5 to 5 gallons per flush.Take short showers and save the baths for special occasions. .....

Kitchen

23. About 8 percent of in home water use takes place in the kitchen.Dont rinse dishes before loading dishwasher. Water saved 20 gallons per load.Wash only full loads in the dishwasher. An efficient dishwasher usually uses much less water than washing dishes by hand. Install a low flow faucet aerator, which can cut water use in half. Water saved 1 to 2 gallons per minute.When buying a new dishwasher, consider purchasing a water saving model. (New mode .....

Around the house

24. Wash only full loads in the clothes washer. Washing small loads uses over twice as much water per pound of laundry.When buying a new clothes washer, consider purchasing a water saving model. Water saved up to 40 gallons per load.Insulate hot water pipes where possible to avoid long delays (and wasted water) while waiting for the water to run hot. When building a new home, keep the distance short between the water heater and showers and other plac .....