Water. We all need it, we all use it, our planet is 75% water. You would think water would be cheap since there is so much of it. But ... most is in the ocean and is too salty to use for drinking and other things. Also, the fresh water we have available is polluted quite often and must be treated to be usable. Water treatment and sewage disposal are expensive, hence our water bills sometimes get very high, especially in areas where there is drought or low water tables.Here are some ideas for saving on your water bill and for saving water in general which is good for the planet.
First, if you have any leaky faucets or toilets, repair them NOW! They can cost you plenty, especially toilets, I can attest to that. My water bill with a toilet that kept running even though we replaced the guts ran my $50 a month bill up to $97. A second gut replacement fixed the problem. Don't skimp, buy the more expensive parts, they are cheaper than the water bill.
Put a brick or a sand or water filled soda bottle in the toilet tank to displace the water. This is for the older tanks that use 3-5 gallons per flush. Some folks don't flush all day unless it is #2. When replacing a toilet, try the new ones with 1/2 and full flush options.
Save water in a bucket while the shower heats up or scoop out of the tub and use that
to flush the toilet - double duty! Turn the water off when soaping down and turn back on for rinsing when taking a shower. Do the same when brushing your teeth.
Water plants outside in the early morning when it's cooler to stop evaporation, hand water plants with your hose rather than using a sprinkler, use soaker hoses to get the water right where you need it - you can even bury the hoses. You can also put in french wells. You can use any extra pot , clay or plastic as long as it has a hole or holes for drainage. Bury it almost to the rim between plants and fill with rocks, it works extremely well in vegetable gardens.
Then fill the pots with water so it goes straight to their roots. Use mulch like grass clippings, bark, pine needles or newspaper to hold the moisture in as long as possible.
Use drought tolerant and native plants.
In the kitchen, put a pitcher under the faucet while waiting for the water to warm up and use it in the pet's bowls or for watering plants or for cooking or drinking. When I hand wash dishes I use a bowl or dish pan and dump that into my mop bucket for watering plants outside. The soap won't hurt them. If using your dishwasher, make sure you fill it before you use it and air dry to save a little more on electricity.
You can install inexpensive aerators on kitchen and bathroom faucets as well, and don't forget about the new low flow shower heads when it's time to replace yours. This can save gallons per shower.
If you have the option, you can divert the gray water from your washing machine to a barrel outside or drain it into a wash tub sink in the laundry room. Again this can be used to water plants outside if you are not using a water softening agent. Using cold water to wash clothes will work just as well and you can save a little more here on the electric bill.
When washing your car start with the roof and work down, soaping from a bucket first, then turn on the hose to rinse. Do it in sections so the soap doesn't dry. Try to wash it on a grassy area so you don't have runoff into the street sewer and it will also water your lawn.
If you don't have gutters, add them if you can and divert the water into rain barrels. You can even make your own from large trash cans. There are lots of ideas on the internet. I found a man that had 55 gallon plastic drums that held concentrated soap for cleaning milking machines (make sure they did not hold nasty chemicals). $10 each! Connected together, they refill every time it rains. Make sure to raise them off the ground to get enough pressure so you can connect a hose to water your garden. I used cement blocks, 2 blocks high. Put in spigots near the bottom of the barrel. And use a fine screen to filter the water coming into the barrels. I have 6 barrels in a row that are painted to match the house and they look very neat and tidy. Good for washing the pets, yourself and clothing if needed.
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