| [Image: leaky faucet] |
| [Image: low flow shower head] |
|
Fix that leak.
-
Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you probably have a leak.
-
Faucets can drip at a rate of one drop per second, wasting more than 3,000 gallons of water a year.
-
Toilets can leak at a rate of 200 gallons a day, which can add up to 73,050 gallons of water a year. To find out if you have a leak, place a drop of food coloring in the tank. If the color shows in the bowl without flushing, you have a leak.
Being squeaky clean.
- Taking a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons of water. Install a water-saving showerhead to reduce the flow.
- A full bath tub requires about 70 gallons of water. Place a stopper in the drain immediately and adjust the temperature as you fill the tub to limit waste.
Turn off that faucet.
- The average bathroom faucet flows at a rate of two gallons per minute. Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth saves up to eight gallons of water per day, 240 gallons a month, 2,880 gallons a year.
Make it a full load.
- The average washing machine uses about 41 gallons of water per load. High-efficiency washing machines use less than 28 gallons of water per load.
- Wash only full loads of laundry or use the appropriate load-size selection on the washing machine to save water.
Don’t flush your money down the drain.
-
If your toilet was made before 1993, you probably have an inefficient model that uses at least 3.5 gallons per flush. New high-efficiency models use less than 1.3 gallons per flush. Installing a new toilet could save a family of four more than $90 on their water bill annually; $2,000 over the lifetime of the toilet.