In order to save money on your monthly water bill, it is important to reduce the amount of water you use. This can be done by implementing several lifestyle changes that will save water without reducing your quality of life.
Short Showers Save Water
A significant portion your water bill is spent on long showers. While many people enjoy long, luxurious showers and use them as a way to relax after a long day of hard work, this can use up to three gallons of water for every minute the shower is running. While some people think taking a bath conserves water by not having the faucet constantly running, they are often using more water by doing this because of the amount of water it takes to fill the tub. In fact, baths often use 50 gallons of water, which is the equivalent of a 20 minute shower.
How to Save Water in the Kitchen
Another large portion of a consumer’s water bill is spent on washing dishes. While this is an essential task and you cannot stop all of your water use in the kitchen, you can reduce the amount of water used by soaking dishes and washing them by hand, rather than running the dishwasher. While one load of dishes in the dishwasher uses 20 gallons of water, one load of dishes washed by hand only requires about five gallons of water.
How to Save Water on Lawn Care
In seasons of drought, many people use a lot of water in order to keep their lawns green. While a healthy lawn is important, people who have sprinkler systems installed often use more water than they realize. In fact, sprinkler systems can use as much as 240 gallons of water per hour, which is the equivalent of 19 five minute showers. While this is lower than an open-nozzle hose, which can use up to 350 gallons of water per hour, consumers can greatly reduce their water usage by digging small trenches throughout their yard, allowing water to flow through the yard and soak into the ground, rather than running a sprinkler non-stop.
How to Save Water with Upgraded Plumbing
Plumbing accounts for a great deal of household water usage. In fact, each flush of a standard toilet uses as much as five gallons of water. If a family of four flushes the toilet an average of four times per day each, the family is using 80 gallons of water on a daily basis, or 2400 gallons of water each month. People can reduce this amount by installing low-flow toilets that use less than three gallons per flush.