The end of summer is close and that means a lot of drought warnings will be relaxed. But if you’ve been conserving water all summer, why stop now? Here are a few ways to keep saving water easily, so you keep saving money all year round.1. Take shorter showers
This one seems obvious, but it’s one of the easiest water saving methods possible without buying something. If you take regular baths, try out a 2 minute shower instead. Make it a game and buy a waterproof stopwatch. See how quickly you can get through a shower and without skipping any steps in your routine (unless you’re shaving).
2. Capture water
It’s getting colder and that means running your faucets and showers longer in order to get hot water flowing. If you don’t have a tankless water heater, this can take quite a while. Save all of that perfectly good water going down the drain by having a bucket, water jug or pitcher that you can fill up with cold water and easily set aside. Use it later for washing dishes, watering plants, washing your car or even for drinking/cooking. If you regularly take a shower or bath upstairs, consider threading a syphon pump through an open window to a waiting tank outside.
3. Use a water saving showerhead
Even if you’re taking a shower rather than a bath, there’s still more that can be done. If you have an old shower head, it most likely delivers water at over 2.5 gallons per minute, which is the new federal minimum. Some older showerheads could have a rating as high as 5.5 gpm, while some of the newest ones have a 1.75 gpm flow. Rohl has some of the lowest flowing showerheads on the market. Most of the eco-friendly showerheads have sleek styles nowadays, no longer a purely utilitarian design.
4. Install dual flush toilets
This one involves a bit of handiwork, but replacing an older toilet with something like a Toto dual flush mode toilet is another great innovation that’s taking the commode world by storm. Using less water for liquid waste can save several hundreds of gallons of water every year.
5. Also install faucet aerators
There are a lot of little improvements in your home that add up to big savings. This is a small one, but along with all the others in this article, can greatly enhance your water savings. Aerators often are pre-installed on new faucets, like in this Vola model, but as always it’s prudent to check. Even if they’re aftermarket, they’re discreet.
6. Catch the rain
Another low-tech, back-to-basics method, having large basins outside your home to catch rainwater is another way to cut down on water use. If that water is used first for outdoor usages, then less needs to be pumped out via sprinklers or hoses. Perfect if you live in the Pacific Northwest.
7. Cover your swimming pool
A simple plastic cover on a swimming pool (especially during the summer) is an easy way to stop water from evaporating out of your back yard. They can be a bit of an inconvenience, but it’s a perfect easy chore for kids to do, kind of like putting away their toys after they’re done playing.
8. Use tiled walkways instead of expensive lawns
Lawns require a lot of water to keep healthy, even in a relatively wet area. They can be a drain on your wallet, having to keep them green and healthy year round. Adding a meandering walkway from the back porch or patio to a pool or sitting area can reap surprising water savings, once your sprinkler pattern has been adjusted to leave out the new dry section. A main pathway of Porcelanosa terracotta combined with a mosaic counterpoint of Bisazza tile is a popular style that would enhance not only your water savings, but how attractive your backyard is as well.
