Conserving water

Even if you live in an area with abundant rainfall, there may be reasons to reduce water use.  And if you live in one of the semi-arid or arid regions of the world, water conservation is ever more important.  In many areas, water supplies are shrinking due to climate change.  If your water comes from a municipal treatment plant, and/or your wastewater goes to a water plant, conserving water conserves all the energy, chemicals, and other supplies needed to treat the water both before and after you use it.  For many of us, all of these reasons apply.  Here are several ideas:

• Fix leaky faucets right away.  A surprising amount of water is wasted by a leaky faucet.
• When purchasing appliances and bathroom fixtures, look for low-water options. 
• Don’t leave the water running while you brush your teeth, peel vegetables, or wash dishes (and modern dishwashers use less water than washing dishes by hand). 
• If you need a small amount of hot water in the kitchen, warm it with an electric kettle or microwave instead of running the water from the faucet until it gets hot.
• Keep showers short.  If more than one person in the household uses a particular shower, try to time the showers one right after the other so the water only needs to warm up once. 
• If you have an automatic sprinkler system for your yard, don’t just set it and leave it the same all year.  Monitor the weather conditions.  Turn the system off for a few days if you get a good rain.  Reduce the duration of the watering cycles when the weather is cool and near the end of the growing season. 
• Plan your landscaping to reduce water use.  A monoculture manicured bluegrass lawn requires a lot of resources (water, fertilizer, energy for lawnmowers, and herbidcides) to maintain.  Look at planting with native plants.  They generally need much less water, add biodiversity to the neighborhood, and nurture insects, birds, and other critters.  I personally don’t like xeriscaping with vast swaths of rocks (or concrete), because it leaves the land unable to nurture anything and the rocks hold heat, creating “heat islands” that radiate heat even after the sun goes down.