| Tips for around the bathroom |
| Next time you flush your toilet, think about how much water you use each time. Toilets account for 29 per cent of your total indoor water use. Combined with showers and baths, the bathroom represents over 50 per cent of your home’s total indoor water use. |
| Faucet |
- Install low flow aerators on your faucets.
- Avoid running water while brushing your teeth, shaving and washing (i.e. wet your brush and fill a glass for mouth rinsing and fill the bottom of the sink with a few inches of water to rinse your blade). By filling a sink with water for washing, 50 litres every five minutes could be saved.
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| Shower/Bath |
- Replace old showerheads with low flow models. Low flow showerheads cut water use by 20 per cent to 50 per cent.
- Take shorter showers. Reduce the time it takes to wet, soap up and rinse off and you could save ,600 litres (700 gallons) of water per month.
- Only partially fill bathtub for baths; one-quarter full should be enough. A full tub uses 90 litres of water so close the drain before turning the water on and bath younger children together.
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| Toilet |
- Install a low flush toilet. A wide variety of single and dual flush toilets are on the market. Low flush sixtre models can save an average Airdrie home over $90 annually.
- Adapt your toilet by installing one of many water saving devices on the market (i.e. toilet dams, water displacement bags and early closure devices).
- Do not put rocks or bricks in the toilet tank as they break down over time and cause damage.
- Use a garbage can, not your toilet to dispose of trash. Every time a cigarette butt, facial tissue or other small bit of trash is disposed, five to seven gallons of water is wasted.
- Avoid chlorine pucks used in your toilet tanks for disinfection. They may destroy the rubber and plastic parts in your tank and in particular, the flapper may deteriorate causing a leak.
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| Leak Detection |
- Find and repair leaks. A tap that drips one drop per second wastes about 10,000 litres per year and leaks can waste 14 per cent of all the water used in the home. So, check all taps, pipes and toilets for leaks and fix immediately.
- Teach children to turn off the faucets tightly after each use.
- Add a little food colouring or dye to your toilet tank and wait about 20 minutes. If, without flushing, colour appears in the bowl, a leak is present that should be repaired immediately.
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| Tips for around the kitchen: |
| By making a few small changes to your cooking and cleaning habits in the kitchen, you can decrease the amount of water you use without cramping your lifestyle. Water should be the only thing that goes down your drain. Never put garbage of any kind down the sink drain. |
| Cooking |
- Wash vegetables and fruit in a bowl or stopper sink instead of letting the water run.
- Use leftover water to water your house plants. Water from washed vegetables, boiled eggs and tea kettles are all good sources.
- Select the proper size pans for cooking. Large pans require more cooking water than may be necessary.
- Defrost food in the refrigerator instead of in a pan of water on the counter or in the sink.
- Steam vegetables on the stove or in the microwave to reduce the amount of cooking water required.
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| Dish Cleaning |
- Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading the dishwasher.
- Run dishwasher only with full load and use the energy saver or shortest cycle.
- If you wash by hand, do not leave the water running for rinsing. If you only have two sinks, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water or gather washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse then with a spray device or pan full of hot water.
- Soak tough-to-clean pots and pans overnight, instead of letting the water run while you scrape them.
- Partially fill the sink or a container when cleaning the kitchen or rinsing cloths.
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| Drinking Water |
- Chill water in the fridge. Running the tap to cool water for drinking loses 12 litres per minute.
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| Faucets |
- Install low flow tap aerators on your sink faucets and reduce water use by 25 per cent.
- Check faucets and pipes for leaks. Often leaks can be repaired with only an inexpensive washer.
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| Appliances |
- Avoid using the garburator; compost any uncooked vegetable and fruit peelings and eggshells instead.
- When purchasing new appliances, look for water and energy efficient models. Energuide.
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| Tips for around the laundry room |
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- Run washing machine only with a full load, but avoid overloading machine.
- Use the appropriate water level or load size selection on the washing machine.
- If your machine has a “suds-saver” feature, be sure to use it (this feature reuses the clean rinse water for washing the next load).
- If you do not have a “suds-saver” feature but want to reuse the rinse water; consider trying to collect the rinse water and using it to water your garden.
- Always select cold water for the rinse cycle and only use hot or warm water for very dirty loads or whites.
- Consider purchasing a high efficiency (i.e., front-loading) washing machine which can save over 50 per cent in water and energy use.
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