The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai. Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food. She blogs at Mom’s Plans where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.
Water is a precious resource. Of course, I’ve always known this, but when I lived in the Midwest where water and rain are both abundant, I didn’t think much about it.
Last year, we moved to the middle of the desert in Tucson, Arizona, and my feelings about water have changed dramatically. Water here is literally liquid gold.
While the drought rages on in California, the news in Tucson is constantly about how we’ll be affected since California and much of Arizona share the same water supply—the Colorado River—which is shrinking rapidly.
However, Tucson is very good at finding ways to save water. Here are just some of the ways we’ve learned and are now utilizing to do our part in the water conservation battle:
1. Pick landscaping that is not water dependent
Our home, and almost all of the homes around us, have colorful stones on the yard instead of grass. Some people stop landscaping there (which is quite a boring look, I must say), but many others plant native cacti or trees that require very little water. I have seen only a handful of homes with grass, and by midsummer, after weeks and weeks of no rain and 100+ degree temperatures, the grass turns brown and patchy.
By planting landscaping that is not rain dependent, you’ll save a significant amount of water. According to Realty Times, “Water-efficient landscapes can help you save almost 10,000 gallons of water per year.”
2. Catch rain water
When we get rain here, which isn’t often, we usually get a quick deluge. My husband and I set out all of the empty buckets we have to catch the water and use it later in our garden or on our lawn vegetation. (You may not want to do this if you have very young children due to the risk of drowning.) If you wanted to carry this further, you can install a rain barrel that will hold more of the rainwater for a longer period of time.
We also put a bucket under the drip spout for our air conditioning condensation. During hot summer days, that bucket fills up twice a day and can be used on outdoor vegetation.
3. Conserve what would be wasted water indoors
The average family wastes a lot of water without thinking about it. If you have vegetables to rinse, for instance, you likely leave the water running while you scrub. All that precious water goes down the drain. The same is true when you turn on the water in the shower and let it run while it warms up to the appropriate temperature.
A simple change can save all that water. Some people have a clean 5 gallon bucket in the shower. They have the water spray into it until it is the right temperature. Then the water can be reused. When we wash vegetables, we now do so in a bowl full of water so later we can use the water to water our vegetation.
4. Turn off the water when you brush your teeth
Before I moved to Tucson, I was guilty of letting the water run while I brushed my teeth. What a waste! If you brush your teeth for the recommended two minutes, that’s over 8 gallons going straight down the drain. To put it in perspective, EPA Water Sense Kids states, “Just by turning off the tap while you brush your teeth in the morning and before bedtime, you can save up to 8 gallons of water! That adds up to more than 200 gallons a month, enough for a huge fish tank that holds 6 small sharks!” And that is just for one person. If you have more people in your household, imagine how much you are saving!
5. Turn off the water when you soap up and shampoo in the shower
My uncle, who served on a submarine, called these Navy showers. You rinse yourself completely, then turn off the water while you soap up and shampoo. Turn the water back on to rinse off completely. According to Tree Hugger, “A typical shower takes as much as 60 US gallons of water, while taking a navy shower can use as little as 3 US gallons; one person can save 15,000 US gallons per year!”
6. Take a five minute shower
If turning off the shower while soaping up doesn’t feel like a true shower or isn’t relaxing enough, try the five minute shower. Since most people shower for 10 minutes, the savings can be significant. Consider, “the average 5-minute shower takes 15-25 gallons of water—around 40 gallons are used in 10 minutes” (Glen Canyon Institute).
7. Install a low flow toilet
If you have a regular toilet, you may want to replace it with a low flow toilet. According to Bell Home Solutions, “If you have a slightly newer toilet from after 1980, it could use as much as 3.5 gallons per flush. You will save between 11,000 and 35,000 gallons of water per year just by upgrading your toilet. That’s a savings of between 55% and 77% of your water consumption from one simple upgrade.”
An even more efficient option is a dual flush toilet. These toilets use half the amount of water when flushing liquid waste and the regular amount when flushing solids. We have a dual flush toilet in our home and have found that the option that uses half the amount of water is sufficient in almost all cases. A manufacturer of dual flush toilets, Caroma, “estimates that you can reduce your toilet’s annual water usage by 80%. The average American uses more than 18 gallons of water for toilet flushing. With an 80% reduction, this amount is reduced to about 3.5 gallons, saving about 15 gallons per day, a dramatic decrease in water use and improvement in efficiency” (North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences).
8. Run your dishwasher only when it’s full
If you wait until you’ve saved every space in your dishwasher, you could save yourself 1000 gallons a month (Squeeze Every Drop). If you’re single, you may have to wait a few days before running your dishwasher.
9. Wash towels every other use
If you have a family, you could run loads of towels several times a week if you wash them after every use. We’re a family of 5, and once the heat climbs above 100 degrees, we all take showers every day. However, I only wash our towels after every other use. That saves us half the amount of towel loads we would normally use.
10. Wash clothes on an as-needed basis
We don’t automatically wash our clothes every single day. My girls are 5 and 6 and don’t yet have body odor issues as adults do. If we have a low key day where we stay home, and their clothes are still clean at the end of the day, I have them wear them again the next day. This doesn’t always happen, but I’m guessing I reduce our laundry by about 1/3 by using this strategy.
Saving water just requires some simple changes. If you do so, not only will you help conserve water, but you will significantly reduce your water bill. How much depends on the rate your town charges, but remember, water rates are usually based on levels, so the more you use, the higher the average rate you have to pay.
How about you all? What strategies do you use to reduce your water consumption? How often do you wash your towels and clothing?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/zaheerm/5392447566/
