According to the EPA, the average person unknowingly wastes up to 30 gallons of water every day. In a disaster situation they recommend that you store 1-3 gallons a day for each person. Now if you could actually store that 30 gallons being wasted in one day, you would have enough water for 10-30 days. Believe it or not, it takes a whole system to clean water for us to consume and use on our bodies. We really should be more conscious in how wasteful we are in using it, especially when there’s a drought upon us like now.
If you want to keep track of the situation then go to US Drought Monitor. In the meantime, here are some tips to help you conserve water and repurpose some of its use.
Bathroom Time
- Taking a bath instead of a shower may help you conserve water, unless you like taking a bath in deep water. Then it may not be as useful. It would be just like taking a long shower, which you may do when it’s hot outside. However, this is not good if you are trying to conserve water.
- One thing that might help is to place a bucket in the shower while it is warming up and during your shower to catch excess water. Then you can take this water and use it for your garden or to water house plants.
- If you take shorter showers like 3 or 4 minutes verses 8 minutes, you could save about 10 gallons of water.
- While in the shower, turn water on to get wet; turn off to lather up; then turn the water back on to rinse off. Repeat when washing your hair. This could save about 50 gallons a week.
- Instead of washing your face, use cleansing facial or baby wipes. The wipes don’t require water and effectively clean your face, even removing makeup.
- Replace your shower head with an ultra-low-flow version. This act alone may save you over 500 gallons of water a week.
- Repair dripping faucets. They waste over 7 gallons of water a day!
- If things get really bad, you could turn off the water to your toilets. Instead, capture used water from showers, sinks and faucets for flushing. You can save gallons per day doing this.
Teeth Care
- When you are getting ready to brush your teeth fill a cup with water, then turn the water off while you are brushing your teeth. Once you are finished, used the cup of water to rinse your mouth out and your toothbrush.
- Turn off the water while you brush your teeth and save 4 gallons a minute. That’s 200 gallons a week for a family of four.
- Don’t turn on your faucet full blast when just a trickle of water will do.
Kitchen Time
- Do not use running water to thaw meat or other frozen foods. Defrost food overnight in the refrigerator, or use the defrost setting on your microwave.
- Kitchen sink disposals require lots of water to operate properly. Start a compost pile as an alternate method of disposing of food waste.
Drink Up
- Instead of letting the water run so you can get a cold glass to drink, fill a pitcher up or an empty jug with water and put it in the refrigerator until it’s cold.
- If you have water left in glasses, use it on your plants or give it to your pets to drink. Don’t waste it.
- Use gel blocks or freeze packs to make your drinks cold, instead of ice.
- Place drinks in the freezer for a short time.
Dishes by Hand
- If you are washing dishes by hand, then fill one side of the sink with soapy water and the other side with clean water to rinse the dishes off. If you only have one large sink, then use two big bowls or tubs (you can get one from the Dollar Store) to place in your sink to wash and rinse your dishes.
- When washing dishes by hand, use the least amount of detergent possible. This minimizes rinse water needed.
- Designate one glass for your drinking water each day or refill a water bottle. This will cut down on the number of glasses to wash.
- Don’t rinse dishes before you put them in the dishwasher. Scrape them clean and let the machine do the rest.
Laundry Time
- Wash laundry and run the dishwasher when you have a full load. You could save 1000 gallons a month.
Store It!
If you live in an area that is prone to having bouts of droughts it is prudent that you start storing rain water whenever it rains. Then again, the way our weather is acting up, it is prudent that most people start storing rain water or bottled water. Make sure you store enough water to handle any emergency such as power outage or a temporary water main break. Enduring water restrictions is hard enough, but having no water coming in is even harder.
Water is Precious
Think about how you use water and how you can use it more efficiently. Try to do one thing each day that will result in saving water. Every drop counts!
Tell me what ways you are using to save water.
References
50 Ways to Be Water Smart
Tips for Conserving Water During a Drought
Drought Tips for Gardening
Drought and Water Saving Tips