Technology really has come a long way, and water efficient shower heads generate a water flow that feels a lot higher than it actually is using technology. Everyone loves to relax into a hot bath tub full of water, but the standard size bathtub can hold up to 80 liters of water, and filling it will not only run up your water bill, but your electric bill as well using hot water. Therefore, purchasing a reduced sized bathtub which holds less water can be just as relaxing, and can save you money as well. We all take advantage of our water using appliances such a dishwashers and washing machines, but it will save you money to purchase those appliances with a Water Efficiency Product Label; to ensure you'll save yourself money not only on water, but on electricity and heating as well. It doesn't take a lot of money to save big on your living expenses.
I've always wondered just how costly dishwashers are. I know it is probably cheaper to hand-wash (less water/electricity) but has anyone ever found just how much pricey it is to wash dishes with the machine?
Well if you don't mind the 'gross' factor of some of the following tips, then consider them... ^_^ - If you have a standard toilet, flush less when using the toilet when all you're doing is urinating. Break it up between twice a day - morning and evening. Except of course if you're doing #2. - Don't let the water run when brushing your teeth. Use a shot glass to meter your usage. - When you shower, turn down the faucet to about 70% and spend less than 12 minutes in there. Shower up to 4 times a week instead of every day. - Not having a pool would be ideal. For myself, I do the last 3. I've tried the first one, but definitely not often. I have other people in the household that frown at me. ^_^
I don't know how men can always shower so quickly. My boyfriend spends less than 5 minutes in the shower lol. I on the other hand, spend 45 minutes to an hour. It takes a LONG time to shave long legs, wash and propperly condition my long naturally curly hair, exfolliate my skin, and feel clean, soft, and feminine. That said, I live at home right now, but I used to live on my own before and water bill was always cheap 23-30 bucks a month, living in an apartment in Ohio. My ex used to gripe at me for taking long showers, but then spend at least that long washing his sports car 2-3 times a week lol! Anyways, back to the topic at hand A good way to save water is to buy newer and more efficient appliances. I personally don't like the low power toilets, they never seem to flush as well and clog more easily too in my experience. But they DO save a lot of water. There's also new dishwashers, shower heads, and other appliances to help cut your utility bill. I was also going to recommend brushing your teeth with a glass of water every time instead of leaving the sink running but I see that's already been suggested above.
Want to lower your water bill? Ensure that you go to a place that includes maintenance in your monthly fees, that way, your water bill doesn't waver. The next possible way to save on water is by harvesting rain water and using it to do the washing of dishes and clothes and the flushing of toilets and so forth. If you follow either of these two options I'm pretty sure that you see a reduction in what you use to pay for water. Restricting how frequently you bath and wash your clothes is not a good way, it's actually a bad way, it's nasty, so don't do those. Just be smarter about things instead of being cheaper.
I have started to use less water for showering. I will turn off the shower when I am putting in shampoo or when I am getting soap in my hair. All of these have really helped me reduce my water waste. I was kind of shocked at how much water I was wasting.
I have read in the newspaper today that Californians are installing roof cisterns to collect rainwater. From what I understand, California has been with no water for more than 2 months now so the people are looking for ways and means to survive with their own water. This is a puzzle to me because America is a great country and California is a mountainous state. So where is the water?
Strangely, even though I live in a Country where water is always in short supply - water is not particularly expensive - however as we often have water restrictions, as well as water cuts and therefore water is a precious commodity - I've had to learn how to use it wisely and although some of the following have already been mentioned - considerable savings really can be made just by making simple changes - such as always making sure that there are no leaks or dripping taps having showers rather than baths only using the dishwasher and washing machine when you have full loads not leaving the tap running when you wash your hands, brush your teeth or are washing fruit and vegetables using the waste water from washing your hands or fruit and vegetables etc to water plants installing a water reducing device into the toilet cistern as the only free water comes out of the sky - setting up a collection system in order not to let it go to waste using drip irrigation to water plants and lawns rather than sprinklers or hosepipes or better still - if you have a garden full of water guzzling plants consider opting for more drought tolerant ones if you have a pool - putting a cover over it when not in use - helps to avoid water evaporating. And of course using as many energy efficient devices and appliances as you can - as I too would agree that they are definitely the way to go and well worth the initial outlay - as not only do they conserve water but also significantly reduce overall energy costs too. As to whether its more cost effective to wash dishes by hand or use a dishwasher - although its generally assumed that doing the dishes by hand is cheaper and it does depend to some degree on the size of the household - as well as how frequently the washing up is done - generally speaking - using an energy efficient dishwasher is the better option - simply because - dishwashers use one-sixth of the water, half the energy and less detergent - compared to hand washing.
With regards to using a dishwasher, I think it very much depends on your washing habits. I hate to have dishes lying around, so will wash up after every meal and snack - which might waste a lot of water over the course of the day. If, however, you can load dirty dishes into a dishwasher, they wouldn't be there for you to see, leaving you able to switch it on once per day - and then you wouldn't use as much water. Modern dishwashers are really good value for money anyway, and they are getting better and better all of the time.
Adding to what has already been said: - Repair leaking faucets. Little savings yes but each penny saved is a penny earned. - Take shorter showers. - Use not "running water" to wash dishes if you wash dishes by hand. - Got plants you regularly water? You could save money if you had only drought resistant plants. They'll need less water to survive.
Here are my tips for saving water. * Use pail and a container, which you can use to scoop water out of the pail and rinse yourself. Use a big pail so you have only one round of water to use. I personally spend only 15 minutes to take a bath. * My hair is a short bob, so I don't use too much water to rinse off shampoo and conditioner. * Use glass to hold water when brushing the teeth, and turn off the tap. * I don't like owning a pool. It makes my water bill rise. So, nope, no pool.
There is even a song that makes clear that "It never rain in Southern California" but weather it rains or not, saving rain water is always a plus to cut water bills for anybody, anywhere in the world.
The majority of my monthly 'water' bill is for trash collection, so cutting back wouldn't save much money. However, I still think it's important to conserve. Thankfully, it's been raining like crazy here, so watering the plants and lawns isn't an issue. I do wash my dishes by hand, and there aren't many of them, so that's not much wasted water. I hadn't considered saving that water to use on the plants/garden, but might do that when it stops raining so much, since I don't have a place to store large amounts of excess water.
Technology has indeed come a far way, and I believe that it will go even further. Inventions such as; 1) solar panels, 2) energy saving bulbs and water saving shower heads, just to name a few, are some of the most loved inventions from technology in a person's home today. I can attest to the fact that low pressure shower heads do save on your water bill. What I would love to see from manufacturers, is a bathroom tap saving device, many of us have in our bathrooms, the shower head and another pipe below, what about that one? lol, doesn't that need some restriction too?
One favourite method that I employ is reusing rinsing water after washing clothes to bathe. Rinsing water is usually not too dirty to use and can be reused for bathing. You can also use a homemade purification system and filter any dirty water that you use. When there are large numbers of people using a water source, its always fine to use a sanitizer or a self closing tap.
Well this is something that I could certainly stand to do a little more of. I always try to limit the amount of water that I use when I am cleaning, but I cannot say that I go this far. I have always liked the idea of gathering rain water and using it for various thing, and I have thought about it, but never really pulled the trigger. If nothing else, this is a nice little boost to the old motivation, which is lacking often times. For that, I say thank you for sharing.
When I wash my hair in the shower, I turn the faucet on and off as needed and I feel like that saves a lot of water. When I wash dishes, I draw up one sink of hot water and leave the other empty, Then I lay the clean dishes in that empty sink and rinse them by just quickly spraying on them with the nozzle. I think that saves too. When I do laundry, I make sure I have a full load (not overfull though). That way there is no waste. And you can have all your gray water piped onto your lawn. A great way to save on watering.
I like the idea of using the laundry water to either flush the toilets in the house or to waster the lawn. We have stopped using the dishwasher, I don't know if that is saving water or not, keeping your toilet in good working condition is also a way to save water. I like a nice long hot shower so I do the dishes by hand as a trade off.
To lower our water bill, I take showers even tough I prefer baths, I flush the toilet less, and we always keep a bucket under our ac to catch the drips, I use it to water my flowers. I also set out a couple of buckets it when it rains to water my garden for a few days. We have a small pool outside for the dogs, and when the water needs change we use it to water the flowers (it doesn't have chemicals in it). I do not have a dishwasher, I usually only use one double sink full of water a day doing dishes and cleaning. To save water I wash the dishes in super hot soapy water and then plug the other side of the sink and rinsed the dishes, I use the rinsed water for cleaning after I am done rinsing. I am really into recycling and saving water.
I have seen people with square bath tubs, it's not really a tub, but it's small and have small chairs inside them. I personally stopped taking baths because I don't like how much water I use and I really need to desperately want to fill my body soaked in water to do so again. I just turn off the water while I'm bathing, and turn it on when I need it, plus I built this thing that allows me to regulate how much water flows out the pipe. I could've bought one, but I like making own things. You don't need a lot of water to wash your body.
