Easy Ways to Conserve Water
Don’t let it run.
We have all developed the bad habit of letting the faucet run while wait for the shower to warm up, while we brush our teeth, or while wait for a cold glass of water. Keeping a pitcher of water in the refrigerator or turning the faucet off while we brush our teeth can save several gallons of water each day! It’s simple really, before you turn on the tap, think of ways you can use less water to accomplish the same purpose.
Fix the drip.
There is no such thing as a little drip. A leaky faucet with a drip of just 1/16 of an inch in diameter (about this big –o–) can waste 10 gallons of water every day. You can turn off that drip by replacing worn washers or valve seats with the help of your parents. The silent leak. Even worse than the careless hand on the faucet is the silent toilet bowl leak, probably the single greatest water waster in homes. A leak of one gallon every 24 minutes—an average amount—totals 2.5 gallons per hour or 60 gallons per day! To check your toilet for a leak, place a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait. If the color appears in the bowl, then there’s a leak. Often these leaks can be fixed with a few minor adjustments, cleaning calcium deposits from the toilet ball in the tank, or by replacing worn valves.
Close the hose.
Letting the garden hose run faster or longer than necessary while we water the lawn or wash the car often becomes a careless and wasteful habit. A ½ inch garden hose under normal water pressure pours out more than 600 gallons of water per hour and a ¾ inch hose delivers almost 1,900 gallons in the same length of time. If left on overnight, one garden hose can easily waste twice as much water as the average family uses in a month.
Irrigate Wisely.
We have all seen the neighbor waters their lawn during an afternoon thunder storm. We have all seen the corner business whose whose automatic sprinkler system consistently over-waters causing sheets of water to flow...