Indoor Water Conservation

What can I do to conserve water indoors?

• Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. This way, there is no need to run the tap to get cool water.

• Only use the dishwasher for full loads.

• Don’t wash dishes under continuous running water. Fill one side of the sink with clean water for rinsing and use the other side for washing, or put washed dishes in a rack and rinse them all at once.

• Wash vegetables in a pan of water instead of under a running faucet. Re-use that water to water household plants.

• Don’t use in-sink garbage disposals, which require a lot of water for operation. Instead, dispose of food waste in a compost pile.

• Check faucets and pipes for leaks. Even a small drip from a worn washer can waste 20 gallons of water a day, while larger leaks can waste even more.

• Install faucet aerators, which are inexpensive devices that can reduce water usage by up to 60%.
  
  In the bathroom:   

• Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth or shaving. Fill the sink to shave instead of letting the water run.

• Check toilets for leaks. Add about 12 drops of food coloring, or a leak-detection tablet, into the tank. If color appears in the bowl an hour later, then there is a leak.

• Install a toilet displacement device in the toilet tank. Place a plastic bottle, weighted with water or sand, into the tank, making sure that it doesn’t interfere with the flushing mechanism. Don’t use a brick, which may chip.

• If you are buying a new toilet, select a low-flush model that uses less than 1.5 gallons of water per flush.

• Take shorter showers. Install a water-saving showerhead, which can cut water usage in the shower from 5-7 gallons per minute to just 3 gallons per minute.