Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

10 tips: Conserve water

Want to save hundreds of dollars a year and help the environment at the same time? Conserve water inside and outside your home. These tips can help you save the Earth and cash:

By Laura T. Coffey, Times Correspondent
Published July 15, 2007

Want to save hundreds of dollars a year and help the environment at the same time? Conserve water inside and outside your home. These tips can help you save the Earth and cash:

1 Don't rush those household chores. Wait until your washing machine and dishwasher are full before running them. If your washing machine has variable load control, you can adjust its water level to correspond with the size of the load. Don't prerinse dishes before stacking them in the dishwasher, and if you wash dishes by hand, fill up the sink or a dishpan.

2 Use a little color to spot toilet leaks. You can save as much as 200 gallons of water a day by fixing toilet leaks, which aren't always noticeable. To spot a leak, put a few drops of food coloring in the tank water, wait 15 to 30 minutes, then check the bowl. If you see any color, you have a leak.

3 Care for yourself with care. Keep the faucet off when brushing your teeth or shaving, and try to make a point of taking shorter showers - five minutes or less. When taking a bath, close the drain before turning on the water, and fill the tub half as full as you normally do.

4 Update showerheads and faucets. Showerheads made after January 1994 use a maximum of 2.5 gallons of water a minute. In contrast, older showerheads use as much as 8 gallons a minute. Low-flow sink faucets can contribute to cost savings, as can simple repairs of leaky faucets.

5 Be careful with hoses. Opt for pistol-style hose nozzles because they shut off automatically. Turn off the spigot to avoid leaks.

6 Water wisely. Water your lawn during the coolest times of the day to reduce evaporation, and don't let your sprinklers waste a lot of water on sidewalks and driveways. Don't cut your lawn too short - the grass won't be able to hold as much moisture if you do. To find specific water restrictions where you live, contact your city or county or visit the Web site of the Southwest Florida Water Management District www.swfwmd.state.fl.us.

7 Brooms are your friends. Instead of cleaning sidewalks, driveways and outdoor steps with a hose, sweep them with a broom. If you hose them down, you'll use about 50 gallons of water every five minutes.

8 Wash your car carefully. Fill up a bucket rather than let the hose run continuously. By keeping the hose off between rinses, you can save up to 150 gallons of water.

9 Remember your pool. Cover your pool when it's not in use to lessen evaporation. Keep it filled a little lower than normal, and avoid fountains or water ornaments that don't use recycled water.

10 Get acquainted with your water meter. Spot system leaks by turning off all faucets and appliances that use water for half an hour. Take a reading at the beginning and end of the period. If the dial moves, you'll know that you have a leak in one or more of your pipes.

Laura T. Coffey (laura@tentips.org)

Sources: Consumer Reports (www.consumerreports.org); Southwest Florida Water Management District (www.swfwmd.state.fl.us)

[Last modified July 13, 2007, 19:57:20]