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Tips to Save Water At Home: How To Do the Same With Less Water

Ways to save water

We already know water shortage is a huge problem staring us in our face. Yet a lot of us just do not do anything about it. That’s very true. We just do nothing but curse the local authorities that they are not doing enough to solve the water crisis. True, they can do a lot more, like fix the leakages, tackle the mafia that diverts and sells water illegally and who know how many other things. But that apart there is a lot we can do in our homes and work places to save water. You may think “Oh how much can I save as  person. There are so many others wasting so much, so just me saving water is not going to make any difference”. Here I would say, it’s the same logic used when people skip voting: “What’s my 1 vote going to do?”. We, as individuals, are equally responsible (if not more) to the existing water crisis. Why, you may ask. In my opinion, if a person CAN do something about some problem and does not do it, I would consider that person to be party to the offence. Whereas, government authorities have their set of problems (corruption, power tussles, political issues, favoritism to name a few) they have to go through a lot of (self created) red tape to get any small problem fixed. While we must continue putting pressure on the officers in charge, we must certainly do out bit.

Imagine: If each household can save even 50 liters of water per day (which we easily see how to do below), a thousand households can save 50,000 liters per day, and then a complete city can save so much more!

Here are a few tips I can suggest to help us each save water without any sacrifices (at least not a lot)

• Save Water In our bathrooms

  bathrooms typically use 70% of all our water consumption.

1. For the gentlemen who shave, I have seen a lot of people just let the tap running the entire time they shave: right from the time they start with the foaming, till the very end. The tap just keeps bleeding water. This can easily be corrected by turning on the tap just when you really the water. I think you get the point. This will help you shave with about just about 10% (or less) of the water you used earlier. Isn’t that a lot of water that you wasted? So please, keep this in mind and I am sure you will feel very happy when you start doing it.
2. A lot of us use showers, instead of the traditional bucket that we were use to earlier. For those who really cannot do without a shower, you can at least make sure that you start the shower only when you REALLY need the water. Do not soap your body while the shower is on. Also, you can it a “low flow” shower head that will slow down the rate at which water flows from the shower. This can save up to  7-8 liters of water per minute.  Imagine! This itself will ensure a lot of water is saved. For those who feel very passionately about saving water, just go back to your 1 bucket of water per bath. There is substantial savings in water when you take “smart baths”.
3. Check for any leakages in you taps, pipes, flushes. This alone could account to saving about 10-20 liters per day depending on the extent of the leakage.
4. Install or calibrate to have smaller flushes. Some of the older flushes throw out a huge amount of water per flush. Check if you can reduce to a smaller flush, which could save about 10 liters per load.

• Save Water In our Kitchens

  We use about 10% – 15% of water in our kitchens.

1. If you use a dishwasher, do not rinse the dishes before you load into the dishwater. You can save about 10-20 liters per day
2. Use the dishwasher only on full load.
3. If you are buying a new dishwasher make sure it is “water friendly” the newer dishwashers are about 25%-30% water efficient.
4. If you so not have a dishwasher but are washing yourself of you have a house maid doing it, make sure you do not keep the tap running at all times. While applying detergent to the utensils, turn off the tap. While washing the dishes make sure you do not keep the tap running while switching between utensils. This could save at least 10 liters of water per wash. Keep an eye on your maid and correct her (or him) when they waste water.

• Use Less Water While Washing and other things

1. I would recommend not using a washing machine (at least in India). We have a good system of house maids who can wash clothes. Not only will they be able to wash with less water, you will be able to save on your electricity bill and also that precious “space” in your home. As a by-product you will also be providing employment to another person. I personally think with our country having so much of sunshine, we should be using this gift from the Sun to dry our clothes (naturally)! Why but those expensive machines and squeeze them into our already crammed homes? Also, I think if companies do not manufacture those machines we will certainly be better off (with those companies having such huge carbon footprints).
2. If you have a garden, consult a professional horticulturist and get to know the optimal requirement of water for the plants in your garden and follow them religiously. If you have sprinklers installed, make sure you are not overusing it. Ensure there are no leakages.

• Educating the Kids about Water Conservation

1. Kids love water. But they are innocent and don’t know that they are playing with a scarce resource. While they must have their childhood fun, it is our duty to educate then on prudent use of water. It is only when we inculcate this habit in them will they learn and appreciate and help spread awareness as they grow.

Well, if I have managed to keep you interested with this post so far, I would request you to try at least a few of these and do your bit. Please let people know about this post so they can benefit too.

Don’t you think if we just follow these simple tips, we will not only save a ton of water, but will also be mighty pleased at the end of the day for having done your part to save this extremely scarce and important resource? Think about it.