Water conservation tips - Help!

[libba]

OK wise ladies of MDC - give me your best tips for conserving and using water. We are in a Stage 3 drought here and face NASTY charges if we go over a certain amount of water usage. Here's what I am doing so far:
1. turning off the water when brushing teeth
2. Using any left over water from dinner etc to water plants. I pour it in a watering can.
3. Starting today there will be a bucket in our shower to collect water when we shower for plants etc.
4. Saving up wash and only doing laundry one time a week compared to my mid week washing.
Please give me any other tips you have!

[CariOfOz]

Feeling your pain here too! We are in a mega uber drought and it sucks.. we have severe water restrictions in (qld australia) and some of the measures that are in place are things like

-4minute showers,
-bucket in the shower too and it helps keep my veggies alive (only the initial temperature regulating water is caught)
- only water in the early morning/late afternoon, no sprinklers (serious evaporation wastage)
- wash cars using a bucket to wet & rinse .. and do it on the grass so the water gets reused
- grey water hose for rinse water from the washer (use on all loads except diapers if you do them, and only run it onto lawn/ decorative areas.. don't think it's good for veggies)
- don't hose the windows/house down to clean it (my neighbors used to do this and it drove me nuts.. buy a squeegee and get a bucket people! )
- if you have a dishwasher... use it.. a fully loaded dishwasher run once a day (in non peak hours for energy savings, and preferably on the shorter eco setting!) uses less water than hand washing dishes according to our drought fighting folks here


There are a few for ya, hope they help a little! And even moreso, hope your laundry on the line gets rained on like mine did last week!!!!

[libba]

Thanks for the suggestions! My caris just going to have to be filthy! We are getting ready to go to the beach so it will be covered in bugs anyway - no reason to wash it. Good to know about the dishwasher - I had no idea - but it makes sense.
Wish I had a spot for veggie garden but I am only watering flowers that I have planted. We have too many 'critters' to plant a garden in the only patch of sun we have ( outside our fence so it would be fodder for all the racoon and fox and coyotes we have around here).
Blees you and may we both get rain soon. We had about a half inch the other day and I was laughing because normally people would be running for umbrellas and they were just strolling in it!

[annekevdbroek]

If you don't already have a low-flow shower head get one. They are cheap, easy to install, and save tons of water. Same with a low water use toilet (newer ones use less than 2 gallons per flush).

We had pretty tight water restrictions last year. We could only hand water. I let everything outside just go. Last year for the entire year we only got 11" of rain. This year in March we got 7" - and lots in April and May too. I hope things wet-up for you soon.

[libba]

Thanks for the tips - we do have low flow toilets but not the shower head. Please send some of that Texas rain to Alabama!

[Alkenny]

Toilet tip...."If it's yellow, let it mellow....if it's brown, flush it down."

[ASusan]

Not only get a "low flow" shower head - get a navy shower head. It allows you to turn off the water while you are soaping up.

[Leta]

I am clueless about plumbing, so bear with me here.

We have an old house. Our hose from our washer empties into an ancient laundry tub. I thought this was cool because I could put a nylon over the hose to catch lint. Then I realized something even better.

When laundry is on rinse, I stick the hose in 5 gallon bucket. (I have five of these that we aquired for free.) One large load fills all five buckets. Then, I pour the water back into the washer for the wash cycle of the next load.

I do an average of two loads of laundry per day. It saves us about $1 per load every time I do it. When I initially figured this out, our water bill went from $90 to $45 over one month.

[MelanieMC]

Originally Posted by libba

Thanks for the tips - we do have low flow toilets but not the shower head. Please send some of that Texas rain to Alabama!

: We had 2-3 minute rain showers last friday here in west alabmama, but other than that it's been months without rain here. Plus, the 100+ temps here are killing me!

ITA with the navy shower head. It works wonderfully - you get the water the temp you want, get wet then turn the head off, lather up, rinse, then repeat the cycle to wash hair. You use very little water this way.

[oneKnight]

Another vote for the water conserving showerhead with 'navy' shutoff thingy. Best.Thing.Ever.

[insahmniak]

Any males in the house?
We do the mellow yellow deal, but have upped the ante a bit....

DP pees in a vessle and when that fills pours it on the compost pile. Why waste all that nutrients? Right now he's using an old plastic vinegar bottle with a pop-on cap. Wouldn't know it's there unless you looked.

[eden/averymum]

I don't have a dishwashe but doubt one could use less water them me when I do dishes. I fill the sink one third and scrub each dish and put it into the next sink. once all the scrubbed dishes are piled in the second sink I drain the wash water and fill the sink about 1.5 inches for rinse water and rinse everything in there.

full loads of laundry.

we do if it's yellow let it mellow too

low flow toilet and shower head. (you can add some bricks to the toilet tank to keep it from filling so much if you can't switch your toilet at this time)

I don't often bathe the kids but fill the bathroom sink about 1/4 and rinse them in it.

turn off the water when brushing your teeth and when soaping up in the shower

don't wash your car. don't water your grass (just the fruits and veggies as needed)

[box_of_rain]

If you don't have a low flow toilet and aren't in the market for one right away, you can fill a gallon jug and submerge it in the tank. If a gallon won't fit, use a half gallon. You will use that much less water each flush.

We do this.

[Ambrose]

Hand wash your car! Take a rag some soap and scrub! have ONE bucket with soapy water and one with a clean rag and clean water. I'd scrub the car with the soapy on and then wipe it off with the clean one. Works just fine and I don't have to sit in line at the local gas station car wash.

[libba]

Originally Posted by Ambrose

Hand wash your car! Take a rag some soap and scrub! have ONE bucket with soapy water and one with a clean rag and clean water. I'd scrub the car with the soapy on and then wipe it off with the clean one. Works just fine and I don't have to sit in line at the local gas station car wash.

No can do according to the water restrictions. But thanks for all the advice!