So much drought news for homeowners pinpoints replacing your lawn with desert-tolerant landscape, but you can reduce your water bills by creating new indoor habits such as:
In the bathroom
More than half of all indoor water use flows through the bathroom. Newer faucets, showers and toilets use less water than older models and still deliver the rinse, spray and flush you expect. If you are replacing a bathroom fixture, look for one that carries the WaterSense label that shows it meets the EPA’s water-saving standards.
Replace old toilets, which use as much as 6 gallons per flush. Newer models use 1.28 gallons or less.
- Replace old showerheads. Standard heads use 2.5 gallons of water per minute. WaterSense showerheads use no more than 2 gallons per minute.
- Replace leaky or inefficient faucets with aerators with WaterSense models. You could save 500 gallons of water per year.
- Don’t use the toilet as a garbage can. It wastes water and can clog your pipes. Toilet paper disintegrates. Tissues, wipes and dental floss do not.
In the kitchen
Stop pre-rinsing dishes. An old kitchen faucet can use 1 to 3 gallons of water a minute when running at full blast. Energy Star dishwashers use 4 to 6 gallons per cycle.
- Replace your old dishwasher. Energy Star dishwashers are about 15% more efficient.
- Wash only full loads of dishes.
- Soak pots and pans instead of scrubbing them under running water.
In the laundry room
Pick the right soil setting. The heavy-duty setting uses more water. Normal setting works for most loads.
- Pick the appropriate water level setting. Many newer models do this automatically.
- Wash only full loads.
- Use cold water to save on energy costs.
For more conservation tips: cvwd.org/conservation
