Easy Steps Can Save Thousands of Gallons of Water

Change your shower head. Older shower heads use five to 10 gallons of water per minute, while water-saving versions use about 2 gallons per minute.

Teach family members that the toilet is not a place to throw trash like tissues or cigarette butts, which use extra water to flush and can cause plumbing problems in your septic tank or at the sewage plant.

Time showers. If members of your family linger in the shower, give them a timer to remind them to bathe and get out. Showering for five minutes or less saves up to 1,000 gallons a month.

Thank the fish. An aquarium contains free natural fertilizer for your plants. When you clean the tank, use the water on your plants.

How Do You Compare?

Nationwide, average daily water consumption is about 100 gallons per person for uses including drinking and washing dishes.

Do you have a leak? Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you probably have a leak.

Also, listen for water trickling through the toilet long after you've flushed; that's a sure sign of a common leak.

To check for a less obvious toilet leak, add several drops of food coloring to the toilet's tank. Wait 10 minutes without flushing. If food coloring seeps into the bowl, you've got a leak.

What works best? When shopping for appliances that use water, look for products that bear the Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense label for the best efficiency.

Want to know more? Visit the American Water Works Association's Web site at http://www.awwa.org/waterwiser and the EPA's at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/home.htm.