ways to save water and cut cour daily living cost

[deborahwilliams]

Knowing ways to conserve water is very important for Southern California due to water shortages currently and water levels are still dropping because of dropped rainfall levels and other factors, the cost of living has shot up to the moon, could any one suggest how do we conserve water and cut down costs?

[minnie1928]

I purchased a few of these for our bathrooms:

RoadRunner 1.59 GPM Showerhead

I installed them about a year ago along with adding aerators to the faucets. I like the showerhead in particular because by using less water that means that you have to heat less water too.

[Aleta]

I live in Florida and we went through a drought last year with water restrictions on watering the lawns, car washes, etc.

One suggestion that came up was rain barrels. They had and I believe still do have classes, and a chance to purchase the barrels at a lower cost. Some people prefer to make their own.

We were also encouraged to collect water from running water from showers, kitchen faucets and to use it to flush with. Sometimes you are running your water to rinse off itmes or to wait for hot water to come out and mean while it's going down the sink. I learned to use that water for my plants outside.

[tmvijai]

Water is precious natural resource. I learned in my childhood in India when we had droughts every 5 or 6 years in our state. Here many take it for granted and run the sprinklers the whole day sometimes. I don't like people wasting the water.

I myself tried to conserve the water by reducnig the usage. I only take 5 mins shower, reduce the flush to use only min quantity of water to flush, don't open the faucet and leave the water running during shower, only water every other day during all season except summer and one more thing use an airator in your faucets to reduce the water coming out. These simple things can save lot of water which not many do in their daily lives.

[MomEsq]

One thing to think about is your toilet(s). New toilets use far less water for flushing: 1.6 gallons, as opposed to as much as 5 gallons for older models! (We have really old toilets in our house and replacing them is high on the home improvement list) For instant water reduction, you can drop a small weight into the tank to displace some of the water -reducing the amount needed to refill the tank after each flush. A brick works great. Toilets can also leak from the tank -adding to water loss. Add a small amount of food coloring to your tank. If the food coloring finds its way into the bowl, you've got a leak. Check with a handyperson or plumber about fixing one of those.

[cptacek]

This is very extreme, so it might not work for everyone. We didn't do this to save water, but instead because the cold water would not come out of the bathroom tub faucet for some reason. The hot water did, though. So, we would fill up half of a 5 gal bucket of cold water in the kitchen sink, carry it to the shower and fill it up the rest of the way with the hot water. We then used a big plastic mixing bowl with a handle to pour it over our heads.

I know I could get through a shower for less than 5 gallons, including shampoo, conditioner, and body washing. Shaving my legs took a little more, but if your water got down to the 1/4 of the bucket or so, you could put a little more hot in there and get you by.

I know, very extreme. And once we got the cold water line fixed, we didn't do that any more. But, that would save on water.

I agree about the rain barrels. I've never tried a brick, but I have filled some 1 liter pop bottles with water, put the cap on, and put that in the tank to displace water.

[JohnSaveOn]

One thing that I try to do is avoid washing clothes after EVERY time I wear them. T-shirts, jeans, and other items do not need to be washed each time you wear them. If you avoid stains and sweat, they are perfectly fine to wear multiple times. Washing machines use more water than most people realize.

[PatientSaver]

Keep a bucket in the shower to catch the cold water while you wait for it to heat up. You can then use that to water your houseplants.

Also save the water you boil vegetables or pasta in. Let it cool, then use it to water houseplants.

[giax]

Get rid of the lawn if you have one. And I don't mean covering it with tarmac. Get plants that work with the weather, climate, and close enough to the water availability of the area. If it's Texas or Arizona, pick some things that work in dry hot weather and so on.
With the water saved one can do a lot more useful stuff - if you use it in garden for instance you can grow your own food.

Wash clothes when they get dirty or smell, not before and not after every use (excluding underwear).
Keep work clothes separate from home clothes, and they'll last longer.
Try a "no pants" day home. Put on jammies or something else comfortable (makes the pants last longer).

[autoxer]

I've got a 65 gallon rain barrel hooked up to my downspout to collect rainwater. Then I can use the rain to water the garden on days that it isn't raining.

[ferriwinkle]

Where I live, we cannot have a rain barrel. All water that hits the ground is legally bound to go to the aquifer. If you are caught with a rain barrel, or other water catching device, you will be hit with a hefty fine. We can still conserve water through some of the other ideas above.

[aurielle]

A little OT but grrr...

Last summer we went through a drought. We didn't have mandatory water restrictions but were close to it. The little valley down the road was on mandatory restriction. Their aquifer plain ran out of water. Anyway, Our water co. asked for voluntary reduced water usage so we wouldn't run out...

Apparently, our collective water reduction was TOO successful. Earlier this year, the water co. decided to significantly raise our water rates. Everybody is mad, because we felt we were being punished for voluntarily reducing water use during a water shortage. The water co. tried to say no, its not because of the drought and reduced water usage, its because they need to make upgrades to their system.

Recently, they admitted it IS because of the reduced water usage, citing declining revenue due to the drought.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.