Save Money: Water

• Limit the time to 5 minutes, but take a shower instead of a bath. Turn off the water while soaping up.
• Turn off the water when you brush your teeth or shave.
• Only wash full loads of both laundry and dishes.
• Install low-flow showerheads and low-flow toilets.
• Fix leaky faucets as soon as possible.
• Collect gutter water runoff in barrels for later use.
• Do not water your lawn unless there is a drought or it has been a week or so between rains. Lawns will go dormant and revive when moisture arrives.
• Wash your car with a hose attachment rather than letting it run down the driveway.
• Keep a bucket or gallon jugs around and fill them up while you wait for hot water. That's gallons and gallons that could be used for watering plants, washing dishes, mopping the floor, or washing the car. You could even store all the water you save in a large, clean,  plastic garbage can.
• Outside, never water your lawn or garden in the heat of the day; water early morning before the sun comes up or in the evening when the sun is going down and it has cooled off.  
• If you have an automatic sprinkler system, set it to water everything at night, but make sure you turn it off when it rains. You can also purchase a moisture detector which will turn off your sprinkler automatically if the ground gets too wet (i.e. it rains).
• Check for hidden water leaks. Turn off all water in the house and check the water meter. If it is running there is a leak somewhere.
• Buy a front-load washing machine. It uses 1/3 to 1/2 the water of a normal washing machine...and they use less soap.
• Don't let the kids play with the hose.
• Collect water if you use a dehumidifier. Note it is not potable.
• Use the same drinking glass throughout the day.
• Use a microfiber mop. It uses much less water than a regular one.
• Put a bucket in the shower to collect extraneous water.
• Save water from boiling vegetables for watering plants. Better yet, use a microwave.
• If you use all natural soap, collect the rinse water on hand-washed dishes for other uses.
• Use xeriscape landscaping techniques. The indigenous plant life is adapted to the area and will generally use less water.

• Check for silently leaking toilets. This can happen in new toilets, too. I checked our toilets after 6 months in our new house and both had silent leaks in them - the flappers were bad. Buy good replacement parts and check to see they do not leak. Flappers are easy to replace. A good flapper is around $4. A good plumber is around $70.

  Test #1

  1.  Turn off the water supply to the toilet
  2. Mark the water level. After an hour, check to see if it has decreased. If so, the flapper needs replacing

  Test #2

  1. Put food coloring in the water closet (not the bowl).
  2. After an hour see if the water in the bowl is colored. If so, then the flapper probably needs replacing.

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