There are so many ways we waste water everyday by leaving the water running unnecessarily. Here are a few situations in which you can turn off the water to help conserve your water use.
In the Shower
You need water to rinse yourself off in the shower, but do is it necessary to run the water when lathering your hair or scrubbing with soap? For those who especially take a long time to do either task, the water and energy savings can really add up. For each minute you save by turning off the water, you could potentially be saving approximately 2.5 gallons of water and $15 a year in energy costs (depending on your showerhead and energy costs) .
Washing Dishes
Washing dishes can use more water and energy than most people expect. By shutting the water off when scrubbing the dishes with soap, up to half of the entire water faucet use can possibly be eliminated. That can be fairly substantial considering that it can often take several minutes to clean an entire sink-full of dishes. Try scrubbing all your dishes first, then rinsing them off.
Brushing Teeth
It is recommended that we brush our teeth for 2 minutes. There is just no need for water to be running while we are brushing our teeth, but some people do. If the water is left running for the entire time, it can waste 2 gallons of water and waste lots of energy if hot water is used.
Washing Your Car
Car washing is one of the biggest water wasting culprits at our homes. The best solution to avoid this waste is to go to a commercial car cleaners, since they often reuse their water. If you do wash your car at home though, make sure to either turn off the water or use a water hose nozzle to prevent waste.
Check out my water calculator to find out the water and energy use in any of the above situations.
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