Q–Simple question. What’s the best way to save water? We live in the suburbs and received quite a high bill last year, especially during the summer months.
via e-mail
A–There are numerous things you can do to cut back on your home’s water consumption, says John Replogle, a research hydraulic engineer from the U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory in Phoenix.
In the warm weather months, the first step is to limit the amount of water you sprinkle on your grass.
“Lawn watering is a major culprit when it comes to water usage,” says Replogle, noting that it’s easy to use several thousands of gallons of water a month on a typical-size lawn.
If you want to save water but keep your grass green, you need to water infrequently but deeply, he says.
“Daily watering will cause the grass to expand its roots in the top inch of the soil, which makes it very vulnerable to drought,” Replogle says.
Instead, try to water once a week, giving the lawn an inch of water. “Set out a coffee can to see that the water coming from your sprinkler adds up to an inch,” he says. “Then use a probe–such as a screwdriver–to make sure the ground is getting enough moisture. Hopefully the moisture goes a foot deep.”
If Mother Nature has been helping out with rain, use the probe to see how deep the moisture goes. Again, if it’s a foot deep, the lawn doesn’t need watering that week.
If you adopt this procedure, you’ll “train” the grass for deep watering, says Replogle. “This technique also works well for vegetable and flower gardens.”
Replogle also suggested some other water-saving techniques.
By placing a brick in your toilet tank, you can save somewhere around a quart of water every time you flush the toilet, he says.
Typically, a family of four flushes their toilet about 20 times a day, so the savings can be about 5 gallons of water per day or more than 1,800 gallons a year, says Replogle, “a substantial savings”
Use a good-quality, hard-fired brick that has been exposed to the outdoors so it’s used to moisture, Replogle recommends. Stack it sideways in the toilet tank and check it every so often for crumbling or flaking.
Instead of a brick, you can use a sealed glass jar filled with stones and water, or an empty plastic soda bottle filled with water.
Also install a low-flow shower head, which uses about three gallons of water per minute, Replogle advises. You’ll not only save water but also save the natural gas that’s used to heat it.
It’s also important to repair any leaks on faucets. A slowly dripping faucet can waste as much as two gallons of water a day, which adds up to more than 700 gallons a year.
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