Sprinklers – Do you hear that? That’s your sprinkler system stream hitting the side of the house. If water from your sprinkler system is reaching your house, deck, driveway, or sidewalk, simply re-adjust it so that all water is falling solely on your plants. Also, pay attention to runoff from your garden or lawn. Do you find that a few minutes into your watering cycle, water is running from your lawn into the street? If so, then consider shortening your sprinkler system time to conserve water.
Appliances – As tempting as it is to throw a few items into the washing machine and place it on the gentle cycle… don’t do it. Only run appliances, like the washing machine and dishwasher, when they are full. This could save up to 1,000 gallons of water per month!
Food Preparation – Instead of washing off fruits and vegetables under running water from the faucet, wash your produce in a bucket of water. When you’re done washing your fruits and veggies, you can make your water go even further by using it to water your plants or garden.
Power Shower – This could be the most difficult of the four. If you can manage to shorten your shower by just a minute, maybe two, you could save up to 150 gallons of water a month. Now, imagine if everyone in your home shorten their showers as well. A family of five could easily save 750 gallons of water a month, and that’s being conservative.
Saving water is important, as more than 780 million people do not have access to clean water and 3.4 million die each year because of water-related diseases. We are very fortunate to have an abundance of water in this country, so let’s not waste it.
