How to Conserve Water in Your Home
The first is in the tank. If you look inside your toilet tank, you will see a hollow tube with water around it. This is the overflow tube, and if the tank fills too full, water will run over the top of this tube and down the drain. You can adjust the float arm lower so it shuts off the tank fill water at a lower level.
The second is the flapper at the bottom of the tank. This is the part that lifts when you flush and lets the tank water run into the bowl. You can test for a leak here by putting a few drops of food coloring in the tank. Wait several minutes without flushing the toilet. Then check in the bowl. If you see any color in the bowl, then there is a leak at the flapper. Sometimes you can clean the contact edges of the flapper and the rim by wiping them with a soft cloth and restore a good contact. If that doesn’t stop the leak, you can replace the flapper or the whole flapper assembly.
Low-flow toilets use only 1.6 gallons of water per flush, and a regular tank toilet uses between 3.5 and 5 gallons per flush. The water savings with a low-flow for a family of three would average about 34 gallons per day JUST FROM FLUSHING!
It doesn’t matter if you live in an area where water is delivered from reservoirs that are long distances away, or if you are pulling your own water from your well, there just isn’t much reason to flush it down the toilet.
Running water while you wait for it to cool or warm is another wasteful practice. Keep a pitcher of water in your refrigerator so you always have a cold drink available. In-line or under-counter water heaters may be very efficient, especially if your water heater is a long distance from the faucet delivery point.
Instead of running water while you brush your teeth, wet your toothbrush and then turn off the water while you brush. Turn it back on when you are ready to rinse. Two or three minutes of running water for each family member twice a day can really add up to some water savings.
A “Navy” shower is another way to save. Like the toothbrushing above, you can turn on the shower only until you are wet, then soap and scrub with the water off. Turn it back on to rinse. An estimated 15 gallons of water could be saved per shower with this method, depending on how long you take and what kind of shower head you have.
