How to Reduce Your Water Bill

There are many ways you can conserve water at home and lower your water bill. Many of these tips involve changing your water usage habits. Tips for reducing home water usage 1. Take quicker showers. 2. Take more showers, fewer baths. 3. Don’t let the water run while you brush teeth. 4. Turn off the water while soaping up dishes. 5. Wash clothes when you have full loads. If you have a water level option on your washing machine, use it! 6. Efficiently water your lawn – Turn on the sprinklers only when needed. Your city may have water restrictions. Check the law before making a watering schedule. The best time to water is between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. Watering in the afternoon is inefficient since water is lost due to evaporation and wind. The second-best time to water is between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Running an irrigation system for just one hour can use up to 250 gallons of water and result in a high water bill. Other ways to reduce your water bill 1. Fix leaky faucets - Just one leaky faucet can waste over 20 gallons of water a day. Have your pipes checked by a professional plumber. 2. Insulate pipes - If you have pipes on the exterior walls of your home, get them insulated.  It will decrease the time you need to run the water to get it warm. Uninsulated pipes allow heat loss while transferring the water to your faucets. 3. High efficiency toilets – Also known as water saving toilets, these toilets can significantly conserve water. 1.6-gallon flushes provide the best water savings. Dual-flush toilets offer additional savings. Dual-flush toilets provide two flushing options: full- flush or half-flush. The full flush typically uses 1.6 gallons of water and the half flush uses about .8 gallons. 4. Showerheads and faucet aerators - Low flow showerheads and sink aerators are great ways to reduce water flow. Low flow showerheads have a water consumption rate of 0.5 to 2 gallons per minute (gpm). This is much lower than the 4-5 gallons-per-minute that conventional showerheads deliver. Faucet aerators are tiny screens that decrease the amount of water flowing out of the faucet. An aerator spreads the flow, which gives the same size stream using less water. Low-flow aerators reduce the gallons of water delivered per minute to 0.5 or 1 gpm. 5. Dishwasher - Only run the dishwasher when it is fully loaded with dishes. Avoid using the pre-wash cycle, as this uses additional water. If you need a new dishwasher, purchase an Energy Star qualified dishwasher. Energy Star dishwashers use 5.8 gallons of water per cycle. Older dishwashers (those purchased before 1994), use about 8 additional gallons of water.