How to Save Water and Money at Home

We're all aware of the need to conserve water, both for our pocketbooks and for the environment. In many areas of the country, growing populations and limited nearby water supplies are making water a scarce (and expensive) commodity. Now, if you've got a lot of money to spend on new appliances like front loading washing machines and dual flush toilets, cutting down on water usage is relatively easy. However, if you don't have a lot of money to spend, conserving water can be a challenge. Here are some ideas on how to reduce the amount of water you use at home-without emptying your bank account.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Low flow aerators
• Low flow showerhead
• Insulating tubes for hot water pipes
• Plastic bottle and sand or gravel
• Food coloring

How to Save Water in the Bathroom

1. Almost 75 percent of the water used in North American homes is used in the bathroom, so it's the logical place to start.

2. Cut down on the length of the showers you take. A 10-minute shower uses almost 40 gallons of water. Cut that shower down to 5 minutes and you've saved 20 gallons of water.

3. Install low flow showerheads. Available at home and hardware stores, there are all kinds of decorating options, and an efficient low flow showerhead can be purchased for less than $25. Advances in low flow showerhead technology mean you likely won't feel any difference, but your water usage will drop dramatically.

4. Check to see if your toilet is constantly running or leaking from the tank into the toilet bowl. Look for leaks by adding some food coloring (or even cold coffee) to the tank and wait a few minutes. If the food coloring shows up in the bowl, the toilet is leaking. Replacing toilet components is inexpensive (most pieces are less than $10) and easy. The parts are available at home and hardware stores and the same stores often have brochures describing how to replace the parts.

5. Minimize the amount of water your toilet uses with each flush by putting a plastic bottle (a large pop bottle will do fine) filled with sand or gravel in the toilet tank. The bottle will replace some of the water that your toilet uses each time it flushes.

How to Save Water in the Rest of the Home

1. Install insulation around all your accessible hot water pipes, particularly those within 3 feet of your hot water tank. Insulation will help keep the water in your pipes warm so you won't need to run as much water out of the tap waiting for the hot to arrive.

2. Check to see if any of your faucets are dripping. Replacing a washer or repairing a faucet is straightforward and inexpensive and will more than pay for itself in a short time.

3. Add low flow aerators to all the faucets in your home. These aerators cost around $5 and will cut down on the amount of water you use in the kitchen sink and washroom basins.

4. Run your dishwasher and washing machine only with full loads. Both full loads and partial loads will use the same amount of water, so waiting until you have a full load will make optimal use of your water.

5. Consider installing a rain barrel and using rainwater for your plants and garden.

Tips & Warnings

• When putting dishes into the dishwasher, scrape the plates-don't rinse them.

• A couple of more pricey solutions to water conservation are replacing your old toilet with either a new low flow design or a dual flush model. Older style toilets use way more water than they need to flush away waste, while the newer designs are equally efficient at getting rid of waste, but don't use the same amounts of water. Dual flush toilets that allow you to choose the amount of water your toilet will use per flush are another good option.

• Front loading washing machines use less water than older style top loading machines.