Reducing your daily water consumption
April 20, 2015
Since water is a precious resource, here are 23 tips to help you reduce water consumption in your daily life.
In the Kitchen
- Repair leaky faucets.
- Wait until your dishwasher is completely full before running it.
- Don’t rinse your dishes too much before putting them in the dishwasher.
- If you wash your dishes by hand, use a tub instead of running water.
- Turn off the faucet between soaping and rinsing your hands.
- Do you prefer to drink you water very cold? Fill a pitcher and put it in the refrigerator to chill.
- Wash your vegetables with a brush instead of wasting the excess water that runs over them.
In the Bathroom
- Here too, repair leaky faucets.
- If you have a constant pressure controller, the system will warn you if your toilet is leaking.
- Purchase a low-flow toilet and showerhead when you need to replace yours.
- Turn off the faucet while you are washing your hands, shaving or brushing your teeth.
- Take quick showers instead of baths. To save even more water, turn off the water while you are soaping up.
- Don’t use the toilet as a garbage can.
- As with the dishwasher, wait until the washing machine is full before doing a load.
Outdoors
- Water your garden in the evening. This will keep around 50% of the water from evaporating.
- Use rainwater to water your garden.
- Use mulch in your garden, this helps retain moisture.
- Don’t water your driveway! Use a broom when you need to.
- Don’t cut your lawn too short. Longer grass retains moisture and will prevent you from needing to water it.
- Redirect water from the gutters to flowerbeds or the lawn.
- Use a bucket of water instead of a hose to wash your car.
- Cover the pool with a tarp in order to prevent evaporation.
- In order to reduce splashing, don’t fill your pool to more than 20 cm below the edge.
Paper
- Since it takes 26,000 liters of water produce a ton of paper, don’t forget to recycle.