In the not-so-distant past, very few people thought about conserving water. Water was in never-ending supply, one of life’s natural essentials that merely recycled itself over and over again. The results were a lot of perfectly good drinking water gone to waste.
These days we know better, yet many people continue to waste water. One must wonder, why? Perhaps we are wasting water without realizing it. In this article we will discuss five easy, effective ways in which you can conserve water that require little thinking.
Turn Off the Faucet
We’ve all done it—let the water run while we brush our teeth or while waiting for the shower to heat up. One of the simplest ways to conserve water is simply by turning it off when you’re not using it. Turning the faucet off while brushing your teeth can save several gallons of water per day. That’s a lot of water when you stop and think about it!
Fix That Leaky Faucet
It’s not uncommon for faucets to acquire leaks, causing them to drip. Whether it’s in your kitchen sink, bathroom sink, bathtub, or an outside faucet, the fact of the matter is that little leak is actually causing you to lose about 10 gallons of water each day, possibly more if more than one sink is dripping! Fixing a leaky faucet is not that hard to do. Simply replacing old, worn washers or valve seats with new ones will do the job. It’s really not that complicated to do, and you will end up saving up to 10 gallons of water a day, not to mention the money you’ll save on your water bill.
Is Your Toilet Running? You’d Better Catch It.
Another common culprit of water waste is a running or leaking toilet. You can typically hear when your toilet is running. It sounds like constant running water coming from it. You can usually stop a running toilet by lifting the toilet ball in the tank, but this is merely a temporary fix. It doesn’t really solve the problem. A running toilet can cause up to 60 gallons of water to be lost every day.
There’s a simple test you can perform at home to determine whether your toilet is leaking or not: add a few drops of food coloring into the tank and wait a few minutes. If the color appears in the water of the toilet bowl, then you have a leak. A toilet leak can be fixed by replacing worn valves, making a few minor repairs, or removing calcium buildup from the toilet ball.
Turn Off the Hose
Don’t simply turn off the hose nozzle when you’re through with it. Be sure to close the main faucet as well. Check for drips and repair as needed. Leaving the garden hose running is a wasteful habit most of us are guilty of. The amount of water loss from a hose left on overnight can be equivalent to the amount used by a whole family in an entire month.
Use Common Sense
One of the best words of advice when dealing with anything is to just use common sense. If it’s raining outside, you don’t need to water your lawn or wash your car. If water is overflowing from your garden area across your driveway and down into the rain gutters, you’re over watering.
Use water sparingly and only use it when you have to. This includes taking shorter showers. The less time you leave water running, the more you end up saving.
It sometimes takes a while to get into the habit of turning off the water faucet when you don’t require it, but with a little conscious effort, you’ll be conserving in no time. It doesn’t take a genius to know how to save water. It just takes willingness and a desire to make a difference.
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Water boy via ifr72
imformative…and very helpful!!!!
imformative…and very helpful!!!!