Earth Saving Tips
September 19, 2003
Easy water conservation tips for your home
Did you know that you could take a long shower every day with the water you might waste while letting the tap run while brushing your teeth and shaving? A household can save up to 20,000 gallons of water by instituting some simple water conservation tips.
Did you know:
- A running faucet puts from 3-5 gallons of water down the drain for every minute that it is on.
- You can easily use more than 5 gallons of water if you leave the tap on while brushing your teeth.
- Washing the dishes with the tap running can easily use an average of 30 gallons of water.
- If you shave with the water on, you use an estimated 10-20 gallons each time.
- If you wash your car at home, using a hose, you can use up to 150 gallons of water.
Simple things you can do:
- Brushing your teeth: If you just wet and rinse your brush, you only use 1/2 gallon of water, a savings of 9 gallons each brushing.
- Shaving: If you fill the sink with water, you use only 1 gallon, a savings of 14 gallons each time you shave.
- Washing Dishes: If you fill a basin, you use about 5 gallons of water, compared to the typical 30 gallons if you keep the tap running.
- Washing you car: If you wash at a self-service car wash, you use 5-10 gallons of water and it prevents harmful runoff from entering into nearby waterways. In addition, car washes treat and recycle their water. This will save our waterways from pollution and save you over 100 gallons of water.
Check back every Friday for more Earth Saving Tips! Have ideas? Send your green tips to eswinformation@esw.org or post them in the comments (below) for everyone to read.