TIPS: Reduce Your Water Use
Monday, April 27, 2009
Tips to Reduce Your Water Use
At home:
- Turn the water off when you brush your teeth
- Repair leaky faucets
- Install low-flow showerheads and faucets
- Install low-flush toilets
- Install water efficient appliances like a front-loading washing machine
- Only water your yard when necessary, and do so at night to reduce evaporation
- Use a rain barrel to collect water for your garden
- Landscape your lawn with native plants and grasses—they help the ground retain water
- Encourage natural recharge of groundwater by using permeable pavement options such as porous asphalt, porous concrete, paving stones or bricks
In your community:
- Encourage your local elected officials to plan for your community’s future water supply and to protect groundwater & surface water form contamination
- Encourage your elected officials to promote environmentally friendly design and planning, such as:
o Clustering development, which minimizes impact on undeveloped land
o Designing bioswales, a swale drainage system with gentle slopes and native vegetation, to aid with cleaner water absorption
o Requiring installation of water efficient appliances in new development projects
o Minimizing impervious surfaces and promoting infiltration into soil
Tags: cleaner rivers, Water Conservation
