Wednesday, June 15, 2011

FIVE SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE WATER


FIVE SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE WATER
Depressed because you don’t have a gray water system? Want to save hundreds maybe even thousands of gallons of water per month (thus lowering your water bill?) Just by following some simple steps you can save!

1- Replace your faucet aerators and shower heads with low flow ones- Just doing this alone can save hundreds of gallons of water per month For example I just changed to lower flow shower heads (my old ones were 3 Gallons Per Minute my new ones are 2.0 GPM) MY average shower lasts 5 minutes, for every 5 minutes I save 5 gallons of water per shower Multiply that by 7 showers a week, that’s 35 gallons, and multiply that by the month (four weeks)and it is 140 gallons per month.And on the theory that the average family of 4 and they all shower, that would be 560 gallons per month. No Cheating- just because you use a lower flow shower head is no excuse to take longer showers!
2- SAVE THE WARM UP WATER- I keep a bucket in the bathroom and warm up my shower water by turning on the tub faucet and let it run into the bucket. Save about 2 gallons each shower- I then use the saved water to water plants in the garden, or wash the dog or even to flush the toilet

3- Don’t flush as much- If you can stand it, use the old if "it’s yellow let it mellow rule"- Don’t flush for Number one. Depending on your toilet you can save between 1.6 and 5 gallons each time you don’t flush. (And yes I am counting dual flush toilets) That adds up to many gallons saved per month.EXTREME WATER SAVERS- Will use a composting toilet and do odd things like save their urine for fertilizer.
4- Turn the water off – brushing your teeth… it is a necessary evil unless you have falsies. Don’t run the water while brushing.
5- Save the water- while shaving. Fill a small bowl with hot water to rinse your razor out in.Or just plug the sink. Just don't run the water while shaving! The advantage to the bowl is you will be able to save the water for other uses like plant watering. Me? I just put it in the shower bucket to water plants, flush the toilet, etc etc.

3 comments:

Chile said...

Extreme Water Savers also don't shower 7 days a week. We take spit baths and only shower when the hair is dirty enough to need "shampooing" (with baking soda, followed by vinegar rinse). :)

EcoCatLady said...

I have mixed feelings about saving water, even though I try to do my best. The politics of water here in the West are just so crazy. Where I live gray water systems are illegal, and so is collecting rainwater.

They asked us all to conserve, but then they raised the price of water because people conserved so much that the water utility wasn't making enough money! And the less water we use, the more tap permits they issue and the more McMansions they build!

So I dunno. If conserving water meant that less water would be used, then I'd be all for it, unfortunately it's so much more complicated than that.

ISO 14000 Environmental said...

The environment is really important for the future generations and we should really make sure that we maintain and preserve every single element in it. Environmental Management Training helps to make the environment safe.