101 Ways That You Can Save Water

Here we have 101 ways that you can save water. If your not conserving water you really should get started real soon. In a lot of American cities the sewer bill is often the same as the water bill. If you have a $88 water bill that month then your sewer bill will be $88. Yes I know that's crazy but high water bills and watering my gardens in the summer time is what got me to thinking about this. If we would all start conserving water and make use of available free water we could reduce our water bill greatly. And lower bills makes everyone happy.

1. The very first thing you should think about if your growing a garden is that you should do research into making use of the rainwater that falls in your yard. If you have a garden or gardens then you should have rain barrels catching the water that runs down off the roof and down into the ground right now. You need rain barrels with screens over the tops to keep out mosquitoes and a spigot at the bottom to drain the water out of the rain barrel. Your rain barrels need to be up high enough to allow gravity to help with the water flow.

2. When you wash your vehicle or vehicles use a hose with a shut off valve so you can turn off the water when you don't need it. A lot of water can be wasted if you lay a hose down on the ground with the water on. You also need to check the other end of the hose and make sure that water isn't running out there. Also be sure to check under your house especially around water spigots to make sure that water leaks haven't developed over the winter.

3. Its always a good ideal to keep your eye on the water bill. A spike in the water bill can often mean a leak or leaks maybe somewhere under your house.

4. If you have a fish tank or fish tanks don't waste the water by pouring it down the drain. Instead use the water to water house plants or your vegetable garden.

5. If you wash your pets purchase a basin or large shallow bucket to wash them in. You can then use the water to water house plants or garden plants and the pet hair in the water isn't going to hurt anything.

6. If your putting a pond or fountain in your yard put it in the shade so that less evaporation takes place. Even if only part of the pond or fountain is in the shade it will reduce the evaporation of water.

7. You should use mulch around your plants, trees, and bushes where ever possible. This will help to conserve water and reduce you having to water your plants, trees, or bushes.

8. Plant ground cover in your yard or at the edges of your yard to help conserve water. Clover is a wonderful ground cover and it helps to add a lot of nutrients to the soil.

9. Everyone needs a compost bin and they need to make use of the compost around your garden plants, trees, flowers, and bushes. Just be sure that any compost you use is very well rotted or you may burn up your plants. If in doubt take some of the compost to a local farm and garden center and ask if it is rotted enough to be used.

10. You should plant plants that need the most amount of water around the end of down spouts. This way the water loving plants will get water and you won't have to worry about their water needs in most cases.

11. You are better off to let your grass get a little taller in the summer and not keep it cut so short. Your not maintaining a golf course so why keep the grass cut so short. By keeping the grass taller you will spend less on gas for the mower and taller grass helps to hold in moisture.

12. You should set out rain catch buckets or barrels during rainy season to catch water to use later when there is not as much rain falling. But think about those mosquitoes. Install screens over the top of buckets or barrels to keep mosquitoes away. If you need to a few drops of bleach will take care of the mosquito larva and you can still use the water to water your plants.

13. Make slow watering devices out of 2 liter drink bottles by putting pin holes in their bottom and then bury them all but the tops near plants like tomatoes, herb plants, potato plants, or etc. Use a funnel to fill the bottle often and the water will slowly seep out the three to four pin holes you put in the bottom of the bottle and water the plant that the bottle is near to.

14. Be sure to fix dripping spigots both inside and outside your house. A spigot with even a small drip can waste hundreds of gallons of water a year. So go around often and check for dripping spigots. Install new spigot washers where ever needed to stop dripping or leaking spigots.

15. Be sure that when you purchase new appliances that use water that you purchase appliances that are conservative on water. Also replace commodes with commodes that use less water. You will save huge over time.

16. If you are going on a vacation turn off the water out at the meter. You will save on your water bill while your gone.

17. Be sure to winterize the pipes under your house and places like the barn or greenhouse so you don't have to worry about pipes bursting over the winter months.

18. A lot of people don't think about it but you need to insulate hot water pipes to keep the hot water hot. If you'll do this you'll notice it on your utility bill real soon.

19. As soon as you can switch to efficient low flow shower heads on all your houses showers to help conserve water.

20. Practice taking shorter showers and use less water as often as possible. Most people waste a lot of water taking showers.

21. Use a bowl to shave in instead of running the water while you shave. You can save the water and use it to water a house plant or a plant in a container on the porch or terrace. Always catch water and reuse it when ever possible.

22. You can use a little liquid food coloring to see if water is leaking from your toilet bowl into the commode. Put some green or blue liquid food dye into the commode tank after it finishes filling up and go back and check it later. If there is colored water in the commode you need to replace the seals and other working parts inside the commode to stop the water leak. Water leaking this way can cost you big over time.

23. Here's one no one would think of. Put a brick in the toilet to reduce the amount of water that is used each time the toilet fills. This will save you big over time.

24. If you live where you can consider switching over to composting toilets that use little or no water and you end up with compost that is changed into safe organic material.

25. Put small things like the bugs, the toilet paper and etc into the trash instead of the toilet and over time this will result in huge savings

26. Practice turning the water off. Don't let the spigot run while your brushing your teeth or washing your face. Use a wet washcloth to wash your face. Turn the spigot off and on while you brush your teeth.

27. Think about how far you turn the spigot on. Does it need to be on full blast or can you just turn it on a third of the way. Reduced water flow will save water and save you money over the long term.

28. Consider having a plumber fix your sinks and bath tubs so they drain into an outdoor tank so you can use that water over again. Be sure to have a spigot on the outdoor tank so you can hook a hose up to the spigot and use the grey water inside. This water can be used to water any plants. All water from showers needs to drain into the outdoor water tank also.

29. Have wire installed over your gutters so leaves and debris doesn't get into your rain barrels. If you do your research and set up your system the right way you can save huge on your water bill by making use of the rain water.

30. Never run the dishwasher when its not full of dishes. The dishwasher should also drain out to the grey water storage tank either in the back yard or under the house. Again its perfectly fine to use grey water to water your plants with.

31. Assign each person a cup and a glass and make them wash and use that same glass or cup over and over. Don't let your family fill up the sinks with cups and glasses.

32. Use Hand Sanitizer by putting bottles of it around your house. This will help keep disease, colds, and flu down and it will save huge on water bills.

33.Thaw foods that need to be thawed on a tray in the bottom of the refrigerator. Don't thaw foods in water in the sink as this wastes water and it really isn't safe.

34. Keep drinking water cold in the refrigerator and people will drink more of it because its cold and it will be very healthy for you over the long term if you get into the practice of drinking eight 8 ounce glasses of water a day. You can add lemon juice to help detoxify your body.

35. Always wash your fruits and vegetables in a bowl of water so you can reuse that water for something else like watering household or garden plants.

36. Don't waste the water that you use for cooking vegetables or pasta by pouring it down the drain unless it is going to a grey water tank. This water is usually nutrient rich and can be used for watering plants.

37. If you need to have a use for boiling water pour it down a fire anthill in the yard. If you keep doing this eventually you will get rid of some really problem ants.

38. If you have a garbage disposal stop using it and you will save water. You can put most of the food waste into your compost bin and later use it as nutrients for your garden plants.

39. Did you know that front loading washers use 40 percent less water than top loading washers. So you really should purchase a front loading washer as soon as possible.

40. Only wash clothes when you have a full load of clothes. Don't ever wash one to three pieces of clothing for any reason.

41. Be sure that the grey water from your washer goes to a outdoor holding tank to be used for watering plants.

42. Be sure that you know where the emergency shut off valve is in case you ever need o turn your water off in a hurry.

43. Don't waste water by using your hose pipe for things like sweeping. Use a broom for sweeping outdoors and not the hose pipe. Never waste water.

44. Always cover your pool and or hot tub when not in use to cut down on water evaporation.

45. Always water your garden before sun rise or after sun set. If you have a slug problem in your garden water before the sun comes up and you will have less problems with garden slugs. By watering in the morning before the sun comes up the garden will dry out during the day and slugs don't like dried out gardens.

46. Always remember to turn off the hose pipe when you're done with it and install a hose nozzle to cut down on water waste.

47. Grass needs water to grow especially in times of high heat so replace as much grass as possible with ground cover to cut down on the amount of grass you will have to water.

48. Support your local farmers by shopping at the local farmers market or roadside vegetable stands as much as possible. Farmers are conservative with their water practices and by shopping with them you are supporting this.

49. Did you know that by watering plants that need a lot of water with ice cubes that they will need less water. Hard to believe but its very true.

50. If you have a bathroom in your house that is rarely used turn the water off to that bathroom and your water bill will go down. There should be cut off valves under the sink and at the toilets. When you need to use that bathroom you can turn the water back on.

51. I love a shower as good as anyone but showers are one of the biggest ways we waste water. As soon as you can have a plumber to fix the drain pipe from your shower so it will drain outside to a grey water storage tank. You can use this water to water your garden.

52. Try an instant hot water tap device. These devices provide hot water all at once right there at the tap so you can have a hot cup of water or tea at once and it will also save you on the utility bills.

53. Towels are clean when you dry off with them so why not hang up your towel and reuse it at the next shower or bath.

54. Consider stopping using the dryer except on rare occasions. You'll need to put up sturdy clothes lines and your going to need laundry baskets and clothes pins to hang your clothes out with. And again you'll be saving big on the utility bills.

55. Build a large back yard pond where you can divert part of the rain water to. Every building in your back yard needs gutters and the down spouts need drain pipes leading down to a screen with a way to dump the strained water into your pond. You can build a nice large pond with thick plastic sheeting. Add a rocky water fall to keep the water moving. Add gold fish or other types of fish to take care of the mosquitoes and etc. Put in toad houses around the edge of the garden to encourage toads to come live in your pond and back yard and garden. American toads will lay their eggs in your pond that will hatch out into more toads.

56. Install a few rain gauges around your property to see how much rain falls. If you know you have had sufficient rain then you won't have to turn on your sprinklers. This will help to save water.

57. Keep in mind that your plants can die from being over watered as easily as they can from not being watered. Keep the ground under and around your plants moist but not wet. This is another reason to mulch heavily around your plants to keep the soil around your plants from drying out to quickly.

58. You can watch your rain gauges to see how much rain water is falling in your yard and garden but how wet is the ground. You can use a dry bamboo skewer by driving it into the ground a few inches to see how wet the ground is by looking at the bamboo skewer is wet or not.

59. I can not stress enough how important it is to make sure that nothing in your house or yard leaks. You need to make sure that there are no leaks at spigots, under the house, or in garden hoses. Look carefully around and under your house for water leaks and fix or have fixed any that you find. If you have a spot that stays wet near your house you may have a pipe leaking. Have it checked.

60. You can save yourself a lot of water by taking your car to the car wash. You pay to wash your car or truck there but you don't have to worry about paying for the water.

61. Aerate any compacted soil on your property. This will ensure absorption of water into the ground. Standing water will evaporate.

63. Check your sprinklers to be sure that they are not leaking. The water needs to be spraying up into the air and not pooling up and running out on the ground. You need to check your sprinklers and hose connections on a regular basis.

64. Avoid planting grass on steep sides of hills. Instead plant a ground cover that will hold the dirt on the side of the hill and it should be a ground cover that will hold in moisture.

65. If you have a pool insist that no water gets splashed out. Water that is splashed out of your pool will have to be replaced.

66. Keep the outside of air conditioners and heat pumps clean and in good order. Be sure that any window air conditioner drains into your grey water system or into buckets that you can use for watering your plants.

67. If you have a fountain set it on a timer so the water cuts off at dark and on at day light. When the water sprays up in the air it evaporates. If you like your fountain on at night for the looks set it up so the fountain comes on at night and off during the day.

68. If you use your sprinkler for the kids to cool offset it up in a area of the yard that needs watering. This way the water will do some extra good while the kids are using it to get wet.

69. If you don't have a compost bin you need one. Start one as soon as possible. Food waste that used to go into garbage disposal can go into the compost bin and reduce the use of water there.

70. When washing clothes in the washing machine match the size of the load to the amount of water needed. To many people just set the dial on large load and leave it there.

71. Time your showers and the showers of your family to last 5 minutes. This will save thousands of gallons of water a year. You really can save water by taking showers. Most tubs take a average of 70 gallons to fill with water.

72. Be sure to teach your children to turn faucets off tightly.

73. Use porous material to make your walkways in your yard out of. The water will soak in and stay in your yard.

74. You will be a lot better off to use winter safe spigots outdoors that will not freeze in winter.

75. Don't forget hidden water costs like for pumping, heating and hot water heaters.

76. Keep in mind that there are a number of ways that your kids can save water and they all start with you. You need to be responsible enough to teach your kids ways to conserve water.

77. If you end up with lots of left over ice or ice cubes don't discard it. Instead put the ice or ice cubes into your garden to water plants in the summer or let the ice melt in the sink if your sink drains out to a grey water tank.

78. Be sure that your using WaterSense labeled commodes, urinals, and shower heads. If not you can save thousands of gallons of water a year by changing your older fixtures out for water saving fixtures.

79. Do everything you can to keep weeds under control in your garden.

80. Use an empty tuna can to catch water when you use sprinklers in your garden. 3/4 to 1 inch of water is all the water you need to use when you turn on the sprinklers in your garden or flower beds.

81. One drip of water a second adds up to five gallons of water a day.

82. If you buy a new washer be sure to purchase a washer that is water efficient. Ask for the most water efficient washer available.

83. When washing your hands lather your hands with the water turned off and then turn the water on to rinse your hands off.

84. Learn how to use your water meter to check for water leaks.

85. Reward your kids if they follow your water saving tips.

86. Avoid recreational toys that require high water use.

87. Always wash dark colored clothes in cold water to conserve energy.

88. Be sure to put 3 - 4 inches of organic mulch around your plants to conserve hundreds of gallons of water a year.

89. Keep the water level in your pool lower to reduce splashing the water out and wasting the water.

90. Use low water plants in your landscaping to save on water. And be sure to mulch heavily around the plants to keep the moisture in.

91. Get in the habit of never letting water run down your drain unless you have the water draining to a grey water tank outside. Set a bucket or pot under a running spigot to catch the water.

92. Stone, rocks, or bricks can make really pretty places in your yard and they need no watering.

93. Don't forget to mulch around your trees especially fruit trees real heavy. This will hold moisture in and save hundreds of gallons of water a year.

94. Only wash clothes when you have full loads and remember to be sure that the dishwasher is only run when it is full. If you will remember to do these two things it will save thousands of gallons of water a year.

95. Remember to never water plants, grass, or trees when it is really hot outside. Wait until after the sun sets or before sun set to conserve and save water. Water sprayed out when it is really hot will evaporate quickly.

96. Water plants, trees, or bushes slowly to allow water to soak down into the ground. If your watering a tree your a lot better off to turn the water on low and lay the running hose at the base of the tree to allow the water to run down into the ground.

97. If you have a outdoor sink be sure that it drains into a grey water system and not down into a septic tank or out on the ground.

98. If you water your lawn always water before sun rise or after sun set and try to pick out the times when it is the coolest to do this.

99. Save money by installing a water filter system on your kitchen sink to remove impurities and so you don't have to buy bottled water. You'll save hundreds of dollars a year this way.

100. Grass is a real water hog especially in real hot weather so reduce the use of grass as much as possible.

101. Make use of all 101 water saving tips on this list and you will save huge amounts of water, energy, and money.