Knowing how you use water is important, especially during times like this, with drought contingency plans in place for most of the Houston area.
With the scorching hot weather conditions, let’s focus on some easy ways to implement indoor water savings:
Bathrooms are the most significant use of water in the home, using more than 50% of all indoor water. Showering accounts for approximately 17% of residential indoor water use. Save time, energy, water, and money by reducing your showers to just five minutes!
Turn off the tap! Letting your faucet run for just five minutes while you are washing dishes, shaving, or brushing your teeth can waste 10 gallons of water AND it uses enough energy to power a 60-watt lightbulb for 18 hours.
Running the dishwasher only when it’s full can eliminate one load of dishes per week and save the average family nearly 320 gallons of water annually.
Let’s talk laundry:
- Hang up your towels after drying off from your 5-minute shower and re-use.
- Run full loads in the washer OR take advantage of your washer’s “small load” option to use less water.
- Opt-out of the extra rinse cycle.
Check your faucets for leaks – A leaky faucet that drips at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year – that’s the amount of water needed to take more than 180 showers.
Replacing old, inefficient bathroom faucets and aerators with WaterSense-labeled models can save the average family $250 in water and electricity costs over the faucets’ lifetime.