09 Feb A Second Glance At How You Can Conserve Water

Water is a precious commodity. People can’t survive without it. Companies make billions selling it. And cars can’t run without it.

It’s no wonder then, that water is expensive. Bottled and sold in a convenience store cooler it costs more than gasoline. Purchased from the city and delivered through kitchen and bathroom faucets, it costs less but can still erode a household’s monthly budget.

Yes, water is expensive, but it’s also something people cannot live without. And because it’s a necessity, most people don’t realize how much they spending on it. Each year, they buy pallets of it for drinking and cooking. They let the water run while they brush their teeth. And they water their lawns day in and day out to ensure it’s as green as possible. In fact, nearly 50 percent of all the money households spend on water goes toward hydrating lawns.

In the process, people’s bank accounts are drying up.

Luckily, there are easy ways people can save money on their water bills. Here are six tips for conserving water:

1.  Take shorter showers. A 10-minute shower uses about 25 gallons of water. Cutting your daily shower time in half can save more than 350 gallons of water a month.

2.  Flush less or install low flow toilets. Regular toilets use up to five gallons of water per flush. Flushing less is great for conserving water, but so are low flow toilets, which use only one to one-and-a-half gallons of water per flush.

3.  Don’t water the lawn when it’s raining. It may sound like common sense, but many people forget to turn off their sprinkler systems when it’s raining.

4.  Use rainwater on plants and shrubs. Instead of paying for water from the tap that’s used to water household plants and outdoor shrubs, collect rainwater in small buckets and use it on indoor and outdoor decorative greenery.

5.  Check for leaks. Leaks can spring up anywhere. And when they do, they often go unnoticed and wind up costing homeowners plenty in wasted water, mold and damage to the house. Making it a point to regularly check pipes and plumbing fixtures for leaks can save homeowners a lot of money–and deliver piece of mind.

6.  Turn it off. More than 90 percent of the water that runs through faucets is wasted–it goes down the drain. Turning off faucets while brushing, shaving and cleaning the kitchen can cut down on that waste.