Drip. Drip. Drip.
That’s not the sound of a slow water leak, it’s your money going down the drain on higher and higher water bills. Stop the dollar drip — and help conserve a precious resource — by following these simple tips.
• Turn off the faucet when shaving, brushing your teeth, or lathering in the shower. This can save about 80 percent of the normal amount of water used.
• Speaking of showers, take shorter ones.
• Check for leaks in toilets, faucets, shower heads, appliances, and around your water meter. Check your irrigation system, too, looking for soggy spots in your yard.
• Only run your dishwasher when it’s completely full.
• Scrape dishes instead of pre-rinsing. Energy Star qualified dishwashers do the cleaning, so dishes don’t have to be free of food when they go in the appliance.
• When washing dishes by hand, fill a container or the sink with rinse water. Don’t run water while soaping dishes. This can save around 2.5 gallons of water a minute.
• Only water your yard during the cool part of the day. Also, do not water on windy days.
Replacing a few things around the house can also save you water and money.
• Installing an aerator on your bathroom or kitchen faucet saves about 1 gallon per minute. While it reduces flow from the faucet, an aerator uses air to keep up the water pressure.
• Replace old shower heads with high-efficiency ones. Again, this could save you about 1 gallon a minute.
• Replace toilets with WaterSense-labeled high-efficiency toilets. These newer toilets use four times less water to flush.
• Only purchase Energy Star-approved appliances, especially when it comes to dishwashers, washers, and dryers.
• Put timers on your sprinklers so you never forget to turn them off.
Water conservation tips to decrease drips
Check your home inside and out, including sprinkler systems and faucets, for drips and leaks. Stopping the drips saves two valuable resources: water and money.