on July 17, 2012 · 3 Comments
Have you ever tried to reduce your water bill? I hadn’t even thought about saving money on my water bill until this summer. I don’t know if you live in an area affected by this summer’s drought, but here in Middle Tennessee, we’ve seen a summer like no other. We’ve reached record high temperatures: 110 degrees—and it’s never been that hot here before! Plus, we went for several weeks with absolutely no rain.
I knew it was coming, but we actually got an official letter a couple of weeks ago that we were on mandatory water restriction. Now that we’ve finally gotten some relief through several days of rain, the restriction has been lifted. However, living through this drought has caused me to realize just how much water we waste.
Reducing your water bill begins when you realize just how much water is wasted. We waste a lot of clean water—water that can still be used. For example, the water that just goes down the drain when I’m letting it warm up in the morning before my shower. Or the water that just runs with no reason when I absent-mindedly leave it on while I’m brushing my teeth. When it comes to water use efficiency, we are definitely trying to change our ways. We’ve implemented some of the recommendations from our Faithful Provisions Facebook community, and during the drought, we were still able to water our garden every single night, without turning on the hose, just using what would have been wasted before. Now what if we did that all the time? We’d not only conserve water, but we would be saving energy costs and reduce our water bill.
How to Save Rain Water
Many of my readers told me about how to save rain water by using rain barrels. My mother-in-law uses rain barrels, and that’s where we were first introduced to the idea. I’m very interested in learning how it all works, and putting it to use for our family, so I will be sharing my findings with you soon.
Tips for Saving Water
Check out these 25 tips for saving water and energy below, many of which are from Faithful Provisions readers. If you want to save money by reducing your water bill and at the same time, be a better steward of all the clean water we have available in this country, these tips are going to make a difference for your family–and everyone else, too.
- Keep buckets or pitchers ready to catch clean water while you wait for it to heat up in both the kitchen and the bathroom. Place pitchers in the fridge for cold drinking water.
- Re-use the water from dehumidifiers to water plants.
- Water your garden at night, so less water will evaporate.
- Set up a rain barrel system to catch water for re-use.
- Re-use water you cook with, for example, water used to boil pasta. You can use it for plants, or as the base for a soup or stew.
- If you have window unit air conditioners, place a bucket where it will catch the condensation as it drips out.
- Try running the hose from your washing machine drain into a barrel and use it to water your garden.
- Try taking shorter showers. Set a timer so you don’t dawdle.
- Turn off the shower water while you lather up.
- Make it a habit to check under sinks once a month to be sure there are no leaks. Leaks are a huge waste of water, and it quickly adds up on your water bill.
- Check toilets for leaks by feeling around the hoses for moisture. Also, try putting food coloring in your toilet tank. If it seeps into the toilet bowl without flushing, you have a leak.
- Install new water-savings shower heads. Today’s low-flow shower heads are easy to install (no plumber necessary).
- Take a 1/2 gallon milk jug that has been rinsed well and fill it with water. Set it in your toilet tank. This reduces the amount of water needed to fill up the reservoir without affecting your toilet’s ability to flush.
- If you are running the dishwasher or washing machine, only run full loads.
- Insulate water pipes. This cuts down on the amount of time it takes for water to warm up.
- Adjust your sprinklers so that you are only watering plants–not the sidewalk.
- Use your water bill to monitor your water usage. A spike in the amount of your bill can quickly alert you to a leak.
- When washing fruits and vegetables, use a pan of water rather than a constant stream from the faucet.
- Sweep your driveway and porch off rather than hosing them down.
- Thaw food in the fridge rather than under running water.
- Turn the water off while you brush your teeth or lather up your hands.
- Wash your car on the lawn rather than the driveway. The water goes to good use that way.
- Turn off the hose while you wash your car down, then turn it back on when you are ready to rinse.
- Use cold water for rinsing clothes.
- When you raise your lawn mower blade to at least three inches, it encourages grass roots to grow deeper, which in turn shades the root system, holding moisture better than a closely-clipped lawn–so you don’t have to water it as much.
You can see all the comments from my Facebook friends HERE with more ideas for reducing your water bill.
