4 Ways to Save Water in the Bathroom

If you are eco-friendly and are wondering what you can do to become even more environmentally consious with your water use, understanding ways to save water in the bathroom is a good place to start. Considering that in the United States one person uses 125 gallons of water each day, measures to conserve on water use, no matter how small, will not only be a plus for the environment but a plus for your pocket book, resulting in big savings on your monthly water bill. The following tips will help you to conserve water on a daily basis.

Toilet Use

The older your toilet is, the more water it uses. If you are in the market for a new toilet, higher efficiency toilets such as low flow and gravity pressure toilets will save you in the long run.

Did you know that each time you flush your toilet you use approximately 3.5 to 5 gallons of water? Therefore, reducing the number of times you flush your toilet unnecessarily will help you to conserve water.

Dispose of trash such as cigarettes, tissues, etc., in your wastebasket rather than in the toilet.

Take Showers

By showering each day rather than taking a bath, you use about one-third less water. You can further save on water if you turn the water off while you lather up with your shower soap or shampoo. If it takes a long time for your shower water to heat up, rather than have water running down the drain and being wasted while you are waiting, turn up your water heater temperature a little. Encourage members of your household to limit their time in the shower to just five minutes or less. Doing this will save you thousands of gallons of water a year.

Turn off Taps

As much as five gallons of water is wasted if you allow the tap water to run when brushing your teeth, washing your face, hands, etc. Therefore, don’t allow the water to run when completing any of these tasks. If you need to use water for shaving, partially fill the sink about half way full to complete these tasks.

Repair Leaks

If you toilet is making a noise when it isn’t in use, you probably have a leak which could raise the cost of your water bill. If you’re not sure whether or not your toilet is leaking from the tank into the bowl, add a few drops of food coloring into the tank, then wait about ten minutes. If, after ten minutes, you discover the color starts to leak into your toilet bowl, you will know that your tank is leaking. If so, have it repaired as soon as possible.

Drippy faucets also are the cause of water waste, so making repairs as quickly as possible will reduce the amount of water than is being wasted.