Five Ways to Preserve Water

Here in Georgia, we are in a drought crisis. Reservoirs are empting faster than the sparse rain can refill them. Both the government and the individuals are becoming concerned. Conserving water is such a priority that neighbors is telling the authorities on each other for too much water use. Whether you are living in this kind of situation, or just want to do your part to conserve water, here are some ideas you can use.

Raise your water temperature on the hot water tank. You have to be very careful about raising water temperature. If children will be using the water at your home, you probably should not even do it. However, I noticed that my family was wasting a ridiculous amount of water just waiting for the shower to get hot. We had gotten into the habit of turning on the water, and then doing a quick chore like taking out the garbage, or loading a load of laundry while we waited. It could take five or 10 minutes and waste gallons of water. Now that I raised the water temperature, I get in the shower almost immediately.

Reuse tub and shower water. You can recycle your bath water by using it to water your plants and clean up dirty jobs. After taking a bath, scoop the water out of the tub and into a five-gallon bucket. When taking a shower, place a foot-soaking tub on the shower floor to catch the extra water. You can use this water to scrub the floor and water your plants.

Do less laundry. Jeans and most slacks do not have to be washed every time you wear them. If your kids are into the same layered-t-shirt style that mine are, then you know that the middle and sometimes-outside t-shirt can be worn again. When in doubt, use the sniff test... I like to get the person who wore it to sniff it for me.

Use your dishwasher. Hand washing dishes uses more water than dishwashers do. You can save water by only running your dishwasher when full and to use the same drinking glass all day.

Check your home for water leaks. Monitor your water bill. If your bill is consistently higher this year than it was last, you may have a leak. Contact your water company for toilet test kits. If you do find a leak and fix it, changes are your water company will also adjust your bill.