save water

Save Water

Tips on saving water at home and office. We're trying to cut our water use at Eden.
1. Save water from your taps
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 you are waiting for the hot water. Use it to water plants or pour into your toilet reservoir after flushing. Water from a hot water tank may have more sediment or rust than water from the cold water tank, but is otherwise suitable for drinking. If you use a water filter, you can filter the saved water, and put it in bottles in the refrigerator for drinking water.
2. Install low flow shower heads and faucets or faucet aerators
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.
3. Replace your clothes washing machine with a high efficiency washer
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.
4. Wash full laundry or dish loads
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 trash or compost. If your dishes dont get clean without pre rinsing, make sure youre loading properly, that your dishwasher is in good repair, and that youre using an effective dishwasher detergent.Dishwashers, especially modern, efficient ones, can actually save water compared to washing by hand, since they pump the same water around inside the tub. If youre ready for a new dishwasher, check both energy and water usage before you buy. Choose your next washing machine wisely, too. Front loaders use far less water than top loaders.Choose laundry detergents that rinse cleanly and dont require an extra rinse.
5. Do less laundry
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 once. You can also wear the same pajamas for a few nights in a row, especially if you shower before bed. Do change socks and underwear daily, but wear slacks, jeans, and skirts more than once between washings. Wear sweatshirts and sweaters over a t shirt or tank top and just change only the innermost layer.Dont change clothes midday. If you have something especially messy to do, such as painting, gardening, or working out, set aside one set of old clothes for that purpose and wear it multiple times between washing, too. If possible, time such activities so they happen just before your regular shower so you dont use additional clothing or take additional showers.
6. Check your plumbing for leaks
especially leaking toilets and faucets. Fix anything you find leaking. A silent toilet leak could waste from 30 to 500 gallons every day.
7. Take shorter showers
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 inexpensive and simply screw into place. Turn the water on for long enough to get wet. Then, use the valve to turn the water off while preserving the temperature of the water while you soap up. Turn the water on again to rinse.
8. Use waste water or gray water from the bath
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 adjusting water temperature), you also can use it to hand wash delicate clothing.Also collect water that you use for rinsing produce and for boiling pasta or eggs.Use garden compatible soaps and cleaning products if you collect gray water for gardening.If youre not sure whether gray water is suitable for plants, you can use it to flush your toilet. Either pour it directly into the bowl, or (provided there is no sediment) use it to refill the toilet tank when you flush.
9. Use your garbage disposal sparingly
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.
10. Convert your toilet to low flush
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. You dont want any pebbles or sand loose in your toilet tank.Upgrade to a low flush toilet. Low flush toilets exist that can flush reliably with 1.6 gallons (6 liters) of water and less. Read product reviews to find a good one.