Greening Your Home - What are you doing to conserve water?

Water conservation is very important, especially in areas that are currently experiencing a drought. Many of the wells and springs here are dry. Folks gather and socialize at the local laundromat. My spring has been dry for what seems like forever. No water for a Navy bath! I am, as are many others, hauling jug water home. I am hauling water from the river to flush the toilet, using paper dishes, and taking sponge baths. My neighbors thankfully do not have downspouts. The last rain we had I placed their two trash cans beneath the gutter to catch the rain. Now that is gone, it is back to the river.

Many parts of the country are experiencing drought. Water sources such as rivers and reservoirs are low. Many do not realize how much water they waste until there is none. Some of the southern states are experiencing the worst drought in 170 years.

Here is one of many good links on the web for ways to conserve water: http://earth911.org/water/water-conservation/

What are you doing to conserve water?

Small lot, big house and shop, so there isn't much room left for a lawn. And that gets watered with irrigation water.
Also, typical flow restricitions, showering instead of filling the tub, running clothes and dishwasher only when full.

We're on a well and though the last year was good to us we never stopped conserving (some folks are still going dry). Our one water luxury, the hot tub, we have filled by a water truck that gets water from the municipal water source. But the hot tub means I don't take my baths as often, and means we have emergency water in the event of a power outage. Old pet water goes to the plants. Everything is xeriscaped. We plan to start collecting rain water next spring to water the few herbs we have, but downspouts are directed into a couple raised flower beds too. High efficiency washing machine, running the dishwasher on full only, turning off the water when brushing teeth, etc. It becomes such a habit, watching people waste water becomes painful!

twelvepole I am sorry you have to haul your water. Once when we were in Africa our cousin asked a woman how far she had gone for the water she was carrying - she had to walk three miles to the stream and three miles home.

Closed pool a little earlier in the season. No outdoor watering (total outdoor watering ban anyway). Only patronize car washes that recycle water. Only wash full loads of laundry and dishes. Turn off water when brushing teeth.

Nuthin'. No drought here, no "conserving" either. Actually, it's raining, again, right now. Not trying to rub it in but in the 25 years I've lived here we've never had a drought that lasted more than a year or so. Even during those droughts I've never been able to pump my well down, even those times I left the garden sprinklers on all night by mistake.

On the other hand, I don't water my lawn (no need) or wash my truck (it wouldn't help). My wife uses the car wash for hers. I take "Hollywood" showers, but I spent 22 years in the Navy and have never heard of a "Navy bath".

Shutting off the water when you brush your teeth and turning on just to rinse will save many gallons of water, and if there are multiple people in the house even more.

Also for those that just need to water their lawn, putting out a little tuna can and turning off the water when the can is no more than ¼ inch full will save. A lot of people over water and don’t realize it.

Being a mom with several kids, baths at my house have two to three fannies sitting in them, and they are only about ¼ full at that.

Of course theres the no brainers, install water conserving toilets and shower heads :). Some extremists go all the way with "if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down". Every household is different.

Water conserving isn’t necessarily for the now or today, its for tomorrow, but mostly for fuel conserving. We’ll figure out a way to desalinize enough water to feed the masses, but whether we’ll always have the fuel to pull if off is the key issue here.

I live in SW Florida, and because of drought conditions and the recent development boom, we have a critical water shortage.

I'm a gardener, so I'm trying to conserve as much as I can there, planting native and drought resistant plants, putting things in the ground instead of in pots, etc. I don't water my lawn, and am trying to plant drought resistant ground covers to take the place of the lawn.

In my urban homestead plan, I'll be recycling rainwater (mostly during the rainy season in the summer), and recycling tap water as well. I can't recycle gray water because my lines go directly into my sewer, and there's no way to redirect them.

Things I'm already doing are catching water from the shower in a bucket and using for flushing. Military showers with low flow shower heads. Sponge baths and no hair washing on days I don't have anywhere to go and am just working around the house. I'm trying to think of a system to recycle the water used when I'm waiting for the water to get warm, because my hotwater heater is way the other end of the house from my bathrooms, so there is quite a lot of waste.

The worst thing is, my water bill will never go under $43, because that's the administrative costs before you use even one gallon of water. It's a ripoff, but what can I do? I can have a well, but then I'd have to filter the water, or buy drinking water. The water here is pretty nasty, so I don't relish bathing in unfiltered water.

And how long would it take for a well to pay for itself? Still, it's something to look into.

jade, maybe you can collect that "waiting for the hot water" water in a bucket and use it in your garden? In our bathroom if you run the hot water at the tub faucet, it brings the hot water to the sink faucet too. A hot water recirculating pump is another option but they are apparently expensive??

I like being on a well but everyone's wells are connected one way or another and someone's lack of conservation upstream or downstream can really affect your well level.

water wells tap into underground springs just like above ground springs and other bodies of water they fill back up from the rain but it takes ten times longer because the rain must penetrate the ground and make it to the source before it is soaked up by the ground the best thing you can do is learn as much as you can about conservation and educate your community and soon the water will return to the wells.

We have a slow recovery well and often run out of water. We bought this wonderful problem w/ our new home and was not aware of the problem.

Anyway, we were water conserver's before moving into this home. However we never know when we have 'used" to much b/c somehow without using water all day we'll be out. (We have a special little fancy box on the wall that locks the pump when the water level is low so it doesn't burn up).

We turn off faucets in between brushing.
We do not water the lawn.
Only water outdoor plants when it hasn't rained in a few weeks.
Only run dishwasher when full which sometime takes up to two weeks.
Only run washer when there is a full load and we often come home from work and hang up our clothes from the day to re-wear them another time or two.
Showers never last more than 10-15 mins.
INstalled a shower head that allows us to stop the flow of water while showering.
Washer and Dishwasher are water conserving products.

The ONE thing I cannot get my hubby to do is NOT flush when he just tinkles. lol He thinks it's really nasty to see my pee or his own. LMAO

Here are a few things I want to do soon to help w/ conserving.

1. Install a tankless water heater.
2. Install a non-regenerating water softener (we have to have one. Water is way to hard.)
3. Catch cans for the rain water at downspouts to be used to water outdoor and indoor plants and saved for flushing when we have ran out of water which sometimes takes hours to come back.

There have been some great ideas here and I thank you all for sharing.

INstalled a shower head that allows us to stop the flow of water while showering.

I realize it's been awhile since this was posted. I hope you or somebody else will see it and be able to answer.

Can you remember where you got such a shower head? Or a brand name? I've looked all around my neck of the woods for such a thing and couldn't find one. It pains me to watch all that water go down the drain.

I heard the earth only has like 2pct of natural pure water. Are there products that can save water? Like showerheads and faucets and stuff? I know that showering saves water over bathing and stuff.

I heard the earth only has like 2pct of natural pure water. Are there products that can save water? Like showerheads and faucets and stuff? I know that showering saves water over bathing and stuff.

I didnt know that showering saves water over bathing?

It's estimated that 22% of household water usage is in the shower.

http://www.showerheadstore.com/energy-saving-showerheads.html

We're having a hard time putting the purchase of a high efficiency washing machine in the forefront of our expenses, especially with fuel and utility prices always going up. Even though they've come down in price, I wish they were even less expensive.

We've installed shower heads that use even *less* water than the low GPM ones they replace. Turn off the faucet when brushing teeth, shaving, and even washing hands.

I don't want this to get political, but I question why people in arid/hot locations water their lawns. The fact that lawns are not naturally occurring there should be a signal of some sort. Just to have a green patch around your house to me isn't a wise justification for using all that water.

The fact that lawns are not naturally occurring there should be a signal of some sort.
Yeah it's weird, looked at objectively. I think the point is that it's not naturally occurring. It shows that we're in control.

Now, when I go down a street of lawns, and up looms one of those yards all done in beds and paths and untamed groves of native trees spilling onto city property, I may wonder who is really in control of our destiny.

Something families do to conserve water, in Japan, is to reuse bath water. We'd fill a bath after dinner. Then wash up a bit with low-mounted shower hose, sitting in a kind of open shower beside the tub. Soak for pleasure really, already clean - dirty, soapy bathwater is "icky". Then someone else uses that same tub water, the same way. And so on. A recirculating water heater for the tub is common. Finally the washing machine gets this resource - it is typically stationed around the corner, and has a pump to draw the relatively clean water through a long hose.

but now we have all the water we can use..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quabbin_Reservoir

In our town, the city water dept doesn't even try to go around to everyones basements and read the water meters.

They just charge everyone a flat rate. (Which is pretty reasonable).

A while back our meter started leaking. I was going to replace it with a new meter from the city, until I found out there were no plans to ever read the meters again.. Now there is 18" of 3/4" copper pipe where the meter used to be.


We have always had good water pressure here (since 1973) and I've decided to use that water pressure when we have power failures during times of basement flooding.

I've installed a water-powered sump pump that can be put on-line when the power fails.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f147/Xringer/D004.jpg
Liberty Sump Jet SJ10

The electric pump is down in the hole at the bottom of the pic.

Only one power failure has occurred since the water-waster has been installed, but the rain slowed down and the power came back on before the new pump was ever needed..

Murphy's Law should keep me from ever needing to use it..
So, I guess it won't waste much water. :)

I read this thread with some interest since my wife and I are currently having a house built and I would like to do my part to conserve water. It has led me to some comments and questions:

1. I take relatively short showers (5-10 minutes max), but how can you turn the water off without freezing your fanny off? I love a hot shower, keep them short, but without the water on me I get chilly real fast. I do like the shower head that goes to a trickle when the water is hot though so you don;t waste any before getting in. Definitely an item for the new house.
2. I currently live in a 4 story townhouse, so it takes awhile to get the water warm on the top floor in the master bath. I have thought of a hot water re-circulator, but since we are moving I am going to wait until we get into the new house. Does anyone have experience with them? Cost doesn't appear too bad (~$400 or so), but it would still take a long time for it to pay for itself. Still, it will save water and energy so I am willing to do it.
3. Our new house has a large lawn (compared to our townhouse), about 5000 sf. or so. I will eventually landscape it (in a couple of years once we are settled and can spare the money) to get rid of some lawn. In the meantime I was looking at rain barrels. From what I have seen, they don't seem very practical and are somewhat expensive. Most around around 50-80 gallons. Maybe enough to water some plants, but still way too small to catch all the runoff from the roof (one site I read said 1 inch of rainfall provides 600 gallons from 1000 sf of roof area). So a lot of water is still wasted that could be used. I imagine larger systems are much more expensive and probably get into requiring permits. I also was hoping to water the lawn with this water, but I figured I needed about 3000 gallons to water 5000 sf with 1 inch of water. I really dont want 60 rain barrels. Anyone have some inexpensive ideas for watering a lawn until I can do some xeriscaping?

This is a very informative thread and now that I have a son (16 months), I look more at what I can do for HIM and HIS PLANET so he can have the same quality of life that I enjoy now. Like the saying goes, we are just borrowing the planet from future generations.

-Neil

I'm still looking for a showerhead that will alow you to cut the flow of water, and then turn it right back on again when you need it. I haven't found one yet. Shutting the water off at the knob is impractical because when you turn it back on again you have to 'hunt' for the right setting again. I suppose a digital one or whatever might get by this, but I haven't found what I'm looking for yet. The low flows don't look much lower to me, but I suppose if you were to measure it it would be.

Incidentally, the link somebody suggested earlier in the thread just had low flows, not heads that could have the flow cut entirely.

I suppose I could cobble something together with a shut-off valve or something, but that would look goofy, and the wife would never go for that.

croc
Don't know about heads that have a shutoff (tho I'm sure they're out there), but every fixture place has several different types of valves that fit between the arm and the head. Push type, lever type, etc. Only problem is if its off for very long, the water in the riser pipe would cool to some extent.

Interesting fact on this page, scroll to the bottom, where the first FAQ is.....

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/heads.html

Also, the Showerstart valve looks interesting

Rain barrels. I've eyed those massive plastic city sewer pipes with that in mind. The idea is to stand one on end with it's own concrete pad, like a chimney, going up two or three stories. This would keep a lot of volume in a small footprint, and the pressure would be good for hose watering at any elevation in the yard.

Being somewhat narrower than a brick chimney, it would weigh about as much full, so no weird structural considerations. One could box it in to look like part of the house.

Thanks for the info gunguy. I guess I can see why you wouldn't want to stop the flow at the head completely.

You're right about the Smartstart. It seems to me you could flip that lever back to trickle mode and accomplish almost the same thing as stopping the flow. I may give that a try.