The movement towards a more environmentally friendly existence has become increasingly important to many people today, yet some people do not know where to begin making healthier personal choices. Some strive to become better recyclers, and others have grown interests in organic foods, alternative energy and hybrid cars. Among the emerging trends in the green movement, it is important to remember to conserve one of our most precious resources: WATER.  Though big companies often exploit or contaminate our water supply, there are a lot of great ways that we can conserve water through our daily personal choices.

           
Reducing your water consumption not only helps to save resources, it can reduce the cost of your future water bill. If you live in a family of four in America, you use on average, 260 gallons of water per day in your home. How does this all add up? A running tap uses around 2-3 gallons per minute. Flushing the toilet can use up to 7 gallons of water. Just five minutes in the shower is responsible for consuming 20-35 gallons, and a full bathtub drinks up roughly 60 gallons.¹ These are just a few of the ways in which homes consume our most precious resource.

             
It can be difficult for many people to change their daily habits, but there are some easy solutions for water conservation. Besides becoming aware of your own daily water use and altering your habits, here are some quick improvements you can make to decrease that water bill:

-If you normally hose off your driveway, try sweeping it instead. A garden hose consumes 10 gallons of water a minute. ²

-Paying for a car wash might not seem so bad if you know that it takes roughly 50 gallons to do it yourself. Commercial car washes recycle their water with a unique draining system. ²

-Replace older appliances with new models that boast more efficient water use. Updating your washing machine could save you 5,000 gallons a year. Always make sure to wash only full loads as well. ²

-You can also purchase low flow toilets, shower heads and faucets that will greatly improve your efficiency.

Many of these products are available through this site's national database, or at your local hardware or appliance store. Make sure to check for rebate offers that support water conservation.

Since water flows directly into our homes, we often think of it as a permanent resource. Like the sun, water is there for you every morning when you wake up. It is difficult to think about water conservation if there is no immediate threat. Unfortunately, it will be the underprivileged that are hit hardest by a water shortage.

The key is to become more aware of your families' water usage and begin to make small changes that will certainly have a huge cumulative impact on our plant's most valuable resource.  Even more important is to educate others--especially children--about the need to conserve water.³   

 

¹ The Rapid City Water Division. "Facts About Water Use and Conservation." City of Rapid

            City. <http://www.rcgov.org/pubworks/water/facts_about_water_use.pdf>.

² H20 University. "Conservation Fact." Southern Nevada Water Authority. 2007. 

<http://www.h2ouniversity.org/html/6-12_facts_conservation.html>.

³ Earth 911. "Water Conservation: Every Drop  Counts." 2007. <http://earth911.org/water/water-

conservation/>.


Additional Links:

Water Drip Calculator

http://www.awwa.org/awwa/waterwiser/dripcalc.cfm

Water Use Calculator

http://www.waterbudgets.com/ConserVision/CUWCC/DataInput.htm