Water Conservation: How to Save Water at Home

Water supply is one of the top concerns of the world today. Although we are always concerned with water quality, nothing much is being done about its quantity. Although more serious factors affect the supply of water such as overpopulation in less-developed countries, there are also other things that contribute in the wasting of water. How do we prevent these things from happening?

Drained water

You might not realize it but the water that comes out of your tap and into the drain is actually wasted water. If you can help it, try not to get rid of the water that you drain even if it was just used for washing the dishes. The water can be useful in other things such as watering plants outside or even cleaning other items.

Check the pipes

Plumbing is actually a very important part of the house. Check to see if your house pipes are in top shape so that your home is leak-free. Many homes have hidden water leaks. The way to find out if you have a leak is to read your water meter and make a note of what’s displayed. Do not turn on any of the taps for a couple of hours. Then read the water meter again. If the display is not the same as what you recorded, then you most probably have a leaking pipe somewhere and should call in a plumber to check.

Avoid flushing unnecessarily

By force of habit, we all tend to flush the toilet even if we just throw in a small piece of tissue. Some people just have to flush the toilet upon leaving the comfort room because they just feel it is necessary to do so. If you are one of these people, drop the habit. If you have anything to dispose of, use a trash can instead.

Take a short shower

Being clean is one thing, but using too much water to attain that is something else. You don’t need to use 5 buckets of water to clean yourself and you also don’t need to stay in the shower for a whole hour. Showerheads can be replaced with low-flow versions so that you use just the right amount of water without wasting too much of it as it goes down the drain. If you use a tub, fill it up to about a third of its capacity. That should be enough to get your cleaning tasks done.

Defrost without water

It is common practice to thaw frozen meat under running water. This is a waste of good water and there are other methods by which thawing can be done. One way is to turn on the defrosting option in the refrigerator. You can also use your microwave to thaw out frozen meat.

It doesn’t take a lot of time or energy to save huge amounts of water. With the current demand for water going up, now is the time that people have to start to practice better conservation methods. And it all starts from your own home and backyard.