Water Conservation Tips

As you may know, it’s becoming more important for everyone to try hard to conserve water due to the increased frequency of dangerous droughts brought on by climate change. Here are some important water conservation tips individuals, including cities can implement on a daily basis.

 

       

If millions of households harvested dozens or hundreds of gallons of rainwater, we could be saving millions of gallons of water along with reducing polluted stormwater runoff into our waterways. This could also help with groundwater recharge , reduce flooding in places susceptible to floods, and help homeowners save money on their water bills. Keep in mind it’s important to use natural detergent when recycling greywater.

 

       

Remember to turn off your sprinklers when it rains and don’t use your sprinklers during the hottest times of hot days. On hot days, use your sprinklers either in the early morning or early evening so water doesn’t quickly evaporate. Therefore, your lawns and plants will have to be watered less frequently. You should only be watering every other day.

 

       

Lawns use thousands of gallons of water every year so replacing it with one of these options will save a ton of water. Also, don’t use synthetic turf because it’s made out of plastic which is bad for the environment and leeches chemicals which is bad for our health, especially children’s health. Synthetic turf also gets extremely hot during summer time and can cause really bad burns.

 

       

Using a low flow showerhead or aerator on your tap saves water, while giving you the benefit of a strong water flow.Turn off the faucet when you wash your hands, brush your teeth, shampoo your hair and soap yourself especially in the shower. This will save many gallons of water over time. Buy water saving devices like high efficiency washers and toilets. Wipe off your dishes instead of using the garbage disposal unit because you have to flush it with water all the time to keep it clean.

 

       

Put a bucket in the shower to collect the cold water while waiting for it to warm up.you can then reuse that water for your plants, to wash your car and many other things.. Also, put a bucket under leaky faucets and get them fixed immediately. You’d be surprised how much water you can collect.

 

 

Sewage goes from our homes to a water reclamation plant, which travels through pipes in the sewer system. Flushing anything but human waste and toilet paper can cause the pipes to become blocked and cause the pipeline to break. When this happens untreated sewage can enter the storm drain that empties out into the ocean polluting our beaches.

 

Please spread the word by sharing this with other friends, family and anyone you know via word of mouth, email or social media. Let’s also keep the pressure on our lawmakers to implement more water saving practices and rebates. Getting a leaky water faucet fixed can be very expensive so maybe we can ask lawmakers to implement a rebate program that makes it more affordable for people to change leaky faucets. 

 

Thank you for reading and let’s all save the planet together.

---

Sydney M. Pitcher is one of our youngest volunteers under 30 and an active Sierra Club member within the Delta Conveyance (tunnel) volunteer group, submitting comments and letters on a regular basis to MWD.