Get Water Tight
“We’ve seen the lake levels plummet and we’ve lived with mandatory lawn-watering schedules,” said local writer Cathy Frisinger.
Weather patterns aside, long-term water conservation is essential, says Ann Vickers, author of The Handbook of Water Use and Conservation, because of our ever-increasing population.
“By 2050 the country is going to be over 400 million people,” she writes. “Desalinization is highly polluting and is not a solution except in very limited use.”
According to Vickers the good news in all this is because we waste so much water there are many ways to reduce usage and we will have ample supplies to meet our needs.
Here’s 26 ways to start conserving water now, inside and outside your home:
Kitchen:
1. Wash dishes in the dishwasher rather than by hand.
2. Scrape dishes rather than rinsing them.
3. Wait till the dishwasher is full before turning it on.
4. Install an aerator on your kitchen sink.
5. Keep a container of water in the refrigerator rather than running the faucet and waiting for the water to get cold.
6. Rinse vegetables in a pan partially filled with water rather than under running water and reuse the water for watering plants.
7. Defrost food in the refrigerator or microwave rather than running water over it.
Laundry:
8. Replace an old clothes washer with an Energy Star washer.
9. In general, run the clothes washer only when it is full.
Bathroom:
10. Take a shower of no more than five minutes rather than a bath.
11. Install a water-efficient shower head.
12. Do not leave the faucet running while brushing teeth or shaving.
13. Do not use the toilet as a wastebasket.
14. Twenty percent of all toilets leak so check yours.
Outdoors:
Water usage indoors is going down for the typical American home because of federal standards and more efficient appliances but water usage outdoors is going up, Vickers writes.
15. Water when your lawn and garden only when they need it.
16. Water lawns early in the morning.
17. Water in several short sessions rather than one long one to allow for better absorption of the water and to prevent runoff.
18. Adjust an automatic sprinkler system at least once a month, or, better yet, set it by hand each time you use it.
19. Make sure sprinkler heads are working correctly and not watering the driveway or street.
20. Use drip irrigation to water shrubs, and vegetable and flower gardens.
21. Mulch gardens and shrubs.
22. Reduce the size of your lawn and xeriscape other portions of your yard, using plants that prosper with very little water.
23. Aerate clay soils to improve water retention and prevent runoff.
24. Use a broom rather than a hose to clean sidewalks and driveways.
Miscellaneous:
25. Take your car to a carwash to be cleaned rather than washing it in your driveway, advises the City of Fort Worth website.
26. Monitor your water meter and check your household including pools, spas, and outdoor spigots for leaks.
Drip Factor:
“Let’s see, our leaky shower head, dripping at a rate of about 80 drips per minute, is wasting about 4,205 gallons of water a year,” said Frisinger.
For more information go to awwa.org.
How Dry They Are:
According to a recent article, Australia proclaims itself to be “the direst state on the direst inhabited continent on the plant” on the website sawater.com.au.
Drought-Tolerant Plants:
One of the best ways the average homeowner can reduce water usage is to have a low-water landscape, says Frisinger.
Drops of Reality:
(Average per capita daily indoor water use in single-family homes)
USEPERCENTAGE OF TOTAL DAILY USE
Shower16.8 percent
Clothes washer21.7 percent
Dishwasher1.4 percent
Toilets26.7 percent
