Water is essential to our health, our communities, our environment, and our economy. As our state population grows, the demand for water will continue to rise.
Saving water is easy and it starts with you! When you use water efficiently, you save money on your water, gas, and energy bills too. The average household spends as much as $78 per month on its water and sewer bill. You can save about $132 per year by doing a few simple things to use water more efficiently.
TIP: Curious to see how our water district stacks up? View our own Water Use Efficiency report on the Water Use Efficiency Reports page. Or, learn more about how water efficiency is measured and reported on the state web site.
Indoor Use
General tips
- Why pour that water down the drain when there could be another use for it? Use it to water those indoor plants or garden. And the waste water from your fish tanks has great nutrients for your plants. Also, ice left in the cup from take-out is great for plants.
- Teach your children to turn off faucets tightly after each use.
- When you give your pet fresh water, don’t throw the old water down the drain. Use it to water your trees or shrubs.
- Wash your pets outdoors in an area of your lawn that needs water.
- Use a water-efficient showerhead. They’re inexpensive, easy to install, and can save you up to 750 gallons a month.
- Upgrade older toilets with water efficient models and ask your water provider if they offer rebates.
- When shopping for appliances, look for the WaterSense and Energy Star labeled models, compare the resource savings to traditional models. Not only will you save water and energy, but your bills will go down too.
Finding and preventing leaks
- Check for toilet leaks by adding food coloring to the tank. If you have a leak, the color will appear in the bowl within 30 minutes. Flush immediately to avoid stains. A leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons per day.
- Make sure your home is leak-free. When you are certain that no water is being used, take a reading of the water meter. Wait 30 minutes and then take a second reading. If the meter readings change, you have a leak! Also, check your water bill for unusually high use.
- Know where your master water shot-off valve is located. This could save water and prevent damage to your home.
- Report broken pipes, open hydrants, and errant sprinklers to the property owner or your water provider.
- Insulate your water pipes to reduce heat loss and prevent them from breaking if you have a sudden and unexpected spell of freezing weather.
- Repair dripping faucets by replacing washers. One drop per second wastes 2,700 gallons of water per year!
Outdoor Use
Lawn and garden care
Thirty percent of water used by the average American household is devoted to outdoor water use, and more than half of that is used for watering lawns and gardens. More than 50 percent of residential irrigation water is lost due to evaporation, runoff, over watering, or improper system design or maintenance.
- Water the lawn or garden early in the morning during the coolest part of the day. Consider installing an automatic timer. Don’t forget to adjust your watering schedule, as days get longer or shorter.
- Water your plants deeply but less frequently to encourage deep root growth and drought tolerance.
- Raise your lawn mower cutting height—longer grass blades help shade each other, reduce evaporation, and inhibit weed growth.
- Avoid over fertilizing your lawn. Applying fertilizer increases the need for water. Use a minimum amount of organic or slow release fertilizer to promote a healthy and drought tolerant landscape
- Avoid watering on windy days when most of the water blows away or evaporates.
- Use soaker hoses or trickle irrigation systems for trees and shrubs.
- Mulch saves water, time, and money. Use mulch around shrubs, flowers, vegetables, and garden plants to reduce evaporation from the soil surface and cut down on weed growth. And mulching lawn mowers prevent water loss and do not require disposal of grass clippings.
- When outdoor use of water is restricted during a drought, use the water from the air conditioning condenser, dehumidifier, bath, or sink on plants or the garden. Don’t use water that contains bleach, automatic-dishwashing detergent, or fabric softener.
Car and leisure
- When the kids want to cool off, use the sprinkler in an area where your lawn needs it the most. Kiddie pool water can go straight onto your lawn and garden.
- Avoid installing ornamental water features, such as fountains, unless they use recycled water. Trickling or cascading fountains lose less water to evaporation, than those spraying water into the air.
- Wash your car on the lawn, and you’ll water your lawn at the same time.
- Wash your car using a shut-off nozzle on your hose that can be adjusted down to a fine spray.
- Check hose connectors to make sure plastic or rubber washers are in place to prevent leaks
Acknowledgements
This information has been adapted from a brochure published by the Washington State Department of Health on their web site. See this page for more conservation tips: https://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/WastewaterManagement/WaterConservation
