Water is a blessing and this blessing is on the verge of shortage in the coming few years. While many people across the globe have a sufficient supply of clean water, most countries are in the race to fulfill the basic need of the provision of clean and safe drinking water.
The need of the hour is to call off wastage of the water. Therefore every household is required to follow these small steps to keep the wastage to a bare minimum.
Turn off faucets
The first simple step you can take to curb the problem is to prevent the needless flow of water from the kitchen or bathroom faucets when you are performing cleaning or any other chore. A simple move of turning off the tap, will do you and our future generations a lot good in terms of water supply.
Turn off the faucets while brushing teeth
Turn off the water while shaving
Similar to the problem discussed above, this is another bad habit followed by most people. Whenever you pick up your razor to shave, remember to turn off the tap to prevent any unnecessary water flow or wastage. You may open the tap for small intervals in the process, but avoid continuously opening the tap through the entire process.
Use your automatic dishwasher for full loads only
Another small step to water conservation at home is to ensure you waste little water in washing your dishes. Of course, you would not want the dirty dishes to be stacked up, but you can save plenty of water by using your automatic dishwasher when it is fully loaded. Running it partially loaded will potentially require the same amount of water.
In a similar manner, you need to make sure that the washing loads of your automatic washing machines are washed only when the drum is fully loaded. The wash cycles of the automatic machine take many rounds and tend to waste a lot of water if not used for a full load.
Stop faucet while you clean vegetables
This is something that is common in many households. They let their pull down kitchen faucets running while cleaning vegetables. The best remedy to this is to fill a bowl with water and immerse your fruits or veggies into the bowl. Take them out after some time. This way not only will you get clean veggies, but will also curb the wastage of water.
Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator
Waiting for the water to cool by opening the tap and letting the warmer portion flow is another wasteful activity followed. By keeping a water bottle in the refrigerator will give you cool water to drink anytime you want and will prevent water loss at the same time.
If you wash dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running for rinsing
Washing dishes is considered to be a stress-relieving gesture. However, this gesture may induce stress if one tends to let the water flow unconditionally during the rinsing process. So it’s better to fill the sink with a water puddle and wash the dishes there.
Check leaks in your toilet
Leaks are another small but prominent problems in regards to water wastage. If you encounter a leak in any of your plumbing or fixtures, be hasty to fix it in time and prevent water wastage at all costs. We have a guide to on fixing the leaky faucets.
Don’t use the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket
Put a plastic bottle in your toilet tank
As mentioned earlier, a flush costs you 6 gallons of water. To prevent this extravagant wastage, you can place a water bottle filled with a few pebbles and water to weigh it down in your toilet tank. Keep it away from the working mechanism. This will save around 5 gallons in an average toilet.
Take shorter showers
Showers may be a means to let go of the stress of the entire day, but it can cost you a lot of water if you take longer shower than needed. Lay down or watch a movie, but restrain yourself from lengthy showers, they will only make you the criminal of water wastage.
Install water-saving showerheads or flow restrictors
If you cannot make peace with the fact of taking shorter showers, another measure you can undertake to lower the wastage is to make use of water-saving showerheads. These will restrict the water flow and prevent wastage compared to a normal water flow showerhead.
Use touch-free faucets in your kitchen
You can also use a quality touchless kitchen faucet. This will save you some water as well as it will automatically be closed after you take off your hands from the faucet.
Take baths on bathtub
Use every drop
Every drop is worth a million so use every drop wisely! You can reuse your water in a number of cases when at home. Make sure to collect the drained water of veggies or fruits in a bowl and use them to water your plants in the garden.
Double-dip dishes
Play with soap and bubbles when washing your dishes. If you happen to have two combined sinks in your kitchen, fill one up with soapy water to clean the dishes and the other one to rinse the soap off. This will save water which is otherwise wasted in the rinsing process.
Consider a smaller dishwasher
You will find a lot of smart and water-saving machines in the market to help you with your daily chores. When selecting for a dishwasher make sure to go for a water-efficient model. And before staking up the dishes in the machine, scrub them off rather than rinsing, this will save you gallons of water.
Buy a high-efficiency washer
A high-efficiency washer will smartly make use of the water to clean your clothes. According to the load inserted it will select the water level, and do the job. How will you know whether the machine is efficient? For that, you will need to look at its energy efficiency stars. The one with a greater number of stars will be the best option.
Go with low-flow
When having your sanitary works installed, make sure you make smart choices when it comes to faucets and fixtures. A feature like water sense and motion sensing in faucets and toilets can help you save around 30% of your daily water from getting wasted otherwise.
Cover up your pool
If you happen to have a pool at your home, you will need to adopt some measures to prevent the water wastage there too. Pool covers in this scenario are the best choices. You can cover up the pool, which will not only retain its heated temperature but also reduce the wastage by 35%.
Water the plants manually
Gardening is a pleasant activity, but the plants need water. You can reduce the wastage that comes from your automatic irrigation system by watering the plants by hand. Plus you can always water the plants by making use of excess water from rinsing veggies or dishes.
Get smart about irrigation
When we say smart we mean that you should let go of the old rusted pieces of sprinklers and install the more efficient rotator sprinklers to tone down on the water losses in your small irrigation area. The systems today are smart and efficient in saving water to the max.
Water during the cool parts of the day
When you tend to water your plants, most of it gets lost into the atmosphere due to evaporation. To save up on this loss, try watering the plants in the cooler portions of the day when the temperature is not too high.
Don’t water the gutter
Installation of sprinklers is one thing and installing them in the right position is another. Having your sprinklers wasting their water by watering a footpath or a sidewalk is not a wise solution and will only increase the wastage. So position your sprinklers in the right fashion.
Plant drought-resistant trees and plants
Drought resistant plants and trees can also help you save a lot on the water. Not only do they look aesthetic to the eye, but they also tone down the loss of water incurred due to irrigation.
Close the hose while washing your car
You should close the hose (connected whether to outdoor faucets or water pump) while cleaning your cars. Tell your car washer too.
Tell your children not to play with the hose and sprinklers
Playing under a sprinkler on a hot day used to be my favorite activity as a child. However, this causes a lot of water to be wasted at the expanse of fun for a short time. To restrict your kids when it comes to playing under the sprinklers.
Capture rainwater
Back in ancient times, rainwater was collected up and saved to be used up in the future. You can always make use of this strategy today too. Use a big gallon to collect water flowing from the rooftop which can be later used for irrigation purposes. Check this article to learn the process of collecting rainwater.
Following these simple steps, every day will save our future generations from a scarcity of water resources. So start saving water today!
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Pat is the former Luxury Sales Specialist of Groupe Deschenes. He has experience of 15+ years in the home improvement industry. He is now the Senior Sales Officer at The Rubinet Faucet Company.