Water Conservation Tips
KEY WATER FACTS

• Your lawn and yard account for nearly 50 percent of your domestic water use. Bluegrass can survive on about half the water normally applied.
• One leaky faucet can waste up to 2,200 gallons of water a year - enough to quench your thirst with 35,200 glasses of water (eight-ounce size).
• Depending on the type, your toilet uses from three to seven gallons of water. Less frequent flushing or water-saving devices in the toilet can conserve much water.
• Wise use of your clothes washers, dishwashers, and disposals can conserve many gallons of water each day.
• Showers - especially those fitted with flow restrictors or low-volume heads - usually use less water than a bath.
• Mulching and other gardening practices can conserve water and promote healthier plants.
• Added together, every little bit of water you conserve counts!

BATHROOM

• A shower generally uses less water than a bath. Plug the tub during a shower and compare the water used with that for a bath.
• Do your showering and hair washing in one step. It takes less water than doing the hair separately.
• Most showers can be fitted with a flow restrictor or low-volume head to conserve water.
• Turn the water off while brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your face.
• A water-filled, capped bottle (quart size) in a toilet's water tank or an adjustment of the float level reduces the normal 4.1 gallons of water to flush a toilet.
• A toilet leak can waste lots of water. Put a few drops of food coloring in your toilet's water tank. If colored water shows in the bowl without flushing, there's a leak and repairs are needed.
• Avoid using the toilet as a trash basket. Tissues should go in the wastebasket and cigarette butts in the ashtray.

• If you use a dishwasher - and most of our families do - wait until it is full before you run it. When buying a new one, make sure it has variable cycles that save on water in certain circumstances.
• Use the smallest amount of water possible in cooking. Most frozen vegetables required about 1/2 to one cup of water, not half a saucepan.
• A tight-fitting lid on a pan saves water from boiling away and also cooks food faster, thereby using less energy.
• Using syrups and juices from canned goods saves water and makes foods taste better.
• Use a pan of water when peeling and cleaning vegetables and fruits rather than letting the sink tap run.
• When washing dishes by hand, use a stopper in the sink and don't rinse with running water.
  
  When use of a garbage disposal is necessary, save food scraps and run the disposal once to conserve water. You can use the disposal even less by saving food scraps for a compost pile.
• A bottle of drinking water kept cold in your refrigerator saves running the tap to get cold water.

ALL AROUND THE HOUSE

• Faucets, throughout your house, should be checked for drips. Sixty drops a minute can waste up to 2,200 gallons of water a year.
• When washing the car, use a bucket filled with warm, soapy water, and use a running hose only for a quick, final rinse.
• Use a broom, not the hose, to clean the garage, the sidewalks, and the driveway.
• The tap water should not be left running when doing normal cleaning of cabinets and appliances. Wet a sponge or clothe and rinse it when necessary, preferably in a bucket of water.
• Insulate the hot water heater pipes under your house in the crawl space. Having to clear the line of cooled water is wasteful.
• When buying a new water heater, pay special attention to the insulation qualities of the shell. Avoid buying a larger tank than is required for your needs.
• Wait until you have a full load before washing laundry, or use a lower water-level setting.

VEGETABLE AND FLOWER GARDENS

• When possible, flood irrigate your vegetable and flower gardens rather than using sprinklers. Irrigation allows deeper soaking with less water. Sprinklers result in higher evaporation loss of water.
• Garden irrigation is best accomplished with shallow ditches next to the plant rows or by use of a soaker hose.
• Prevent irrigation water runoff and waste by damming the ends of the ditches with soil. Fill the ditch with water and let it soak in.
• Polyethylene (black plastic) mulch between your vegetable garden rows conserves water. (Avoid plastic thicker than four mils as it reduces air exchange.)
• Mulches which stay open and porous (leaf mold, wood chips, loosely-applied lawn clippings) conserve water and discourage weeds in your flower and vegetable gardens. Mulches such as finely textured peat moss will compact and form a surface crust which prevents water from soaking into the soil.
• Certain flower and vegetable varieties can tolerate shade and thus require less frequent watering. Consult the Natrona County Agricultural Extension Office at 235-9400 for variety recommendations.
• Leafy vegetables (lettuce) generally require more water than root crops (beets).
• Vegetables requiring more water should be grouped together in the garden to make maximum use of water applications.
• Vegetables can be combined with flowers and shrubs to prevent watering a separate vegetable garden or to utilize space more effectively.
• Vegetables for small families can be grown in tubs, thereby avoiding the need to water a large garden.