Water is essential for the survival of all living forms on earth. But at the rate that people are using up water now, it won’t be long until the majority of the world’s water supply runs out. Instead of waiting for that to happen, you can do something to stop (or at least delay) this disaster from happening. And it starts by doing saving water at home.
From using water-efficient fixtures and appliances to changing the way you use water, here are seven simple ways to conserve water at home.
Switch to Water-Efficient Fixtures
Low-flow faucet aerators and showerheads exist to help save water. These fixtures use less water while maintaining acceptable pressure labels by injecting air into the flow. That’s why you see tons of bubbles when you use a low-flow faucet aerator and showerhead. The air bubbles also help direct the flow of the water, so there isn’t as much splashing, saving your clothes from getting and water from being wasted.
Toilets are some of the biggest water wasters in the household. An old toilet can use up to 6 gallons of water in one flush. However, federal standards are set at 1.6 gallons per flush, but this doesn’t change the fact the many people are still using an old toilet that wastes gallons of water.
If you desperately need a toilet update, consider getting a low-flush macerating toilet, which uses less water than is set by federal standards and has a built-in powerful motor that can efficiently break down toilet waste for smoother flushing.
Turn Off the Tap When Not in Use
When washing their hands, many people leave the tap running while they’re lathering soap and scrubbing dirt from their fingers and palms. Don’t be lazy; turn off the tap when you’re not actually using it. You can quickly turn it on when you’re done removing all the dirt and invisible contaminants from your hands.
Use a Cup When Brushing Your Teeth
Another wasteful habit is keeping the faucet on while you’re brushing your teeth. This is incredibly pointless and wasteful. If you want to have some water ready for when you want to rinse your mouth, use a cup, and save water.
Shorten Shower Time
Showers are notorious for using a lot of water. If you’re using a standard shower, you’re using up to 2.5 to 4 gallons of water per minute, which means a 30-minute shower uses 75 to 120 gallons. That’s a lot for one shower, so cut down your shower time to 10 minutes or less, and reserve your long showers for special occasions. That includes your bubble baths too.
Reuse Laundry Water
After doing your laundry, don’t throw out the water you used. Collect it to use for cleaning your garage and driveway. If you use an environmentally friendly, biodegradable detergent, you can also use the laundry water for your plants.
Load the Dishwasher Only When It’s Full
The standard dishwasher uses six gallons of water per cycle. Imagine using too much water to wash a few plates and cups. Conserve water by waiting for the dishwasher to be full before loading it.
If you’re in need of a dishwasher upgrade, invest in a water-efficient model, which only uses four gallons or less per cycle. Most efficient models also use less energy, so you can save water and electricity and reduce your monthly bills.
Collect Rainwater
Yes, you can do that. The federal government does not put any restrictions on its citizens to harvest water from the rain. Some experts were concerned that collecting water would disrupt the areas’ hydrologic cycle, but it has been proven that the amount of rainwater gathered by houses was not significant enough to cause a disruption in the cycle.
That said, you should still check with your state laws and authorities first to ensure that it’s 100 percent legal to do this in your state. The water you collect from the rain can be used for gardening and household purposes, so you don’t have to tap into, well, your tap.
Take Action
Water is a valuable resource that’s fast dwindling due to many factors, including overpopulation, global warming, climate change, and rapidly increasing demands in industries, like agriculture. Already, 21 out of the 37 major aquifers in the world are drying out at an alarming rate. If this goes on, the world will run out of water, and life will cease to exist.
What you do today to save water matters. If every household tries to curb its water usage, it can slow down the depletion of this finite resource. You can go the extra mile by being vocal about your initiative. You can support campaigns that lobby for environmental laws and for major corporations and industries to take responsibility for their actions that damage the environment and deplete and contaminate the population’s water and food supply.
