During the hot summer season, we may think once in a while to reduce our water consumption in the garden, but if we could only reflect more thoroughly, we can actually save water in every part of our house all year long if we just watch our consumption and make an effort to minimize our wasteful usage. Look at it this way, we need water to keep our bodies functioning properly, to maintain our hygiene, keep our surroundings beautiful and our things sanitary – shouldn’t it just be proper if we use it wisely?
To help you get started, here are some ways to conserve water in our homes:
In the bathroom
Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth. Say you brush your teeth twice a day, for two minutes each time and you leave the faucet running while you do so… this act wastes approximately 10-12 liters of water every day – enough amount to keep about 6 people well-hydrated. Now, think about the times when you leave the shower running while you soap or shampoo, or when you leave the tap on while you shave – you’re wasting way more water than what you actually need.
In the toilet
Avoid using your toilet as an ashtray or to flush out garbage. Each flush consumes about 5 to 7 gallons of water, and that’s way too much to waste over a couple of cigarette butts. Also, use the half-flush option if it’s available. To save approximately a liter of water per flush, fill a plastic liter bottle with pebbles and water and put it in the tank in a way that it won’t interfere with the flushing mechanism. Check your toilet for leaks as well; a mildly running toilet can waste up to 4,000 liters of water per year, while a heavily running toilet wastes about 95,000 liters per year.
In the kitchen
Rinse vegetables in a bowl or in a plugged sink instead of using running water. Keep a bottle of pitcher of cold drinking water in your refrigerator instead of running the tap; that way, you don’t waste the water you could be drinking. Collect the water you use for rinsing fruits and vegetables and use them to water your houseplants and use the garbage disposal system sparingly.
In the garden
Adjust your sprinkler system so that you water your lawn and not the street or pavement, and make sure you water the grasses enough so that it absorbs the moisture instead of just evaporating. To measure this, put an empty tuna can on your lawn. Once it’s filled up, you’ve watered the lawn enough. Avoid watering your plants when the sun is too high up, as it will just dry the water quickly, and use the dirty water from your aquarium to provide added nutrients to your garden.
It also helps to periodically check your plumbing systems for leaks and monitor your water bill for unusually high usage. Fixing these leaks will not only help you with water conservation, it will also save you money.
