Six Ways to Reduce Your Home Water Consumption

If you pay attention to the news, you probably already know that wars will be fought over water in the coming decades. While 70 percent of the planet's surface is covered with water, only a tiny percentage of the Earth's water is potable. Earth's water cycle is what might be called a closed system. That is to say, no new water enters the system, despite a few desalinization plants contributing a small amount of new fresh water each year. Other than that drop in the ocean, nothing is added to the available supply of fresh water. Not only does no new water enter the system, but, less and less water is available thanks to pollution.

With present technology, the growing human population can count on no new water. The only way to stretch the world's water supply is to conserve it, and this responsibility lies with each of us individually. It begins with you, in your home. If making sure that life-giving water is available for future generations is not reason enough to make you want to conserve water, consider the fact that as water supplies diminish, water will become more expensive. Everybody wants to save money. To save water is to save money.

Here are a few easy ways to conserve water at home:

• Place a brick in the toilet reservoir. This saves about a quart of water per flush, at no noticeable performance cost in most cases.


• If it's yellow, it's mellow. Flushing every time someone urinates makes little sense. Even one fewer flush per day can save hundreds of gallons of water every year.


• Water the yard and garden after dark. If you water during daylight hours, over half the water can evaporate before it quenches the thirst of your grass and shrubs.


• Go native. If you live in an arid area, consider planting native species in your yard instead of a standard lawn. This is called xeriscaping.


• Fix leaks. That little drip is annoying, but it is also costing you a ton of water and money. One drop of water every three seconds, 24 hours a day, adds up to over 100 gallons wasted over the course of a year, and -- sadly -- most homes waste much more than that.


• Shower like a sailor. On a ship, there is a limited amount of fresh, hot water so sailors learn to take quick, efficient showers. Wet yourself down, turn off the water, lather up, then rinse. If everyone in a family of four gets in the habit of showering this way, it can save thousands of gallons of water per year. Since shower water is usually heated, you will save on your gas or electric bill, too.

The need to conserve water is no joke. As mentioned above, experts predict that wars will break out over water disputes in the not-too-distant future. In the Western United States, legal battles over limited water resources have been going on for decades.

If each of us tackles our responsibility to conserve water, the children of today will have a much more comfortable future. But the heck with the children, right? Do it for the lower water bill if money is the only thing that matters.
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