High temps call for greater conservation

● Water the lawn only when it needs it and in the early morning or late afternoon.  Watering in the middle of the day allows most of the water to evaporate.

● Use a broom instead of your hose to clean the driveway or sidewalk.

● Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator.  Running the tap to cool water is wasteful.

● Fix leaky faucets.  Drops of two tablespoons a minute can waste 15 gallons of water a day, 105 gallons a week and 5,460 gallons a year.

● Install flow restrictors or washer-less faucets.

● Don’t use the toilet as a wastebasket.  A toilet uses 5 to 7 gallons of water per flush.  Low-flow toilets use only about 1.5 gallons per flush.

● Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving and save about two gallons of water.

● Also, when cleaning a fish tank, water houseplants with the dirty water.  It’s rich in nitrogen and phosphorous.

● Decline the complimentary water in restaurants.  Every water glass used requires two glasses of water to wash and rinse it.

Plant drought-resistant shrubs and plants
Replace perennial borders with native plants. They use less water and are more resistant to disease. Consider landscaping for a low maintenance, drought resistant yard. Will Rogers Garden Exhibition Center offers an informative drought-resistant gardening seminar every year. Check it out.

Sprinkler Control
Adjust your sprinklers so they are only watering your lawn, not your home, sidewalks and driveway. Also, you lose less water to evaporation if you water in the morning or evening when the temperature is cooler. Avoid oscillating sprinklers and sprinkler heads that produce fine sprays.

Fill up your washing machine and dishwasher
Large loads can save big money over time. In most cases running your dishwasher with a full load of dishes will use less water than washing the same number by hand.

Monitor your bills
Watch your water bill for unusually high usage. Your bill and water meter can help you discover leaks and help you save money. Also, check out our drip calculator.

Save water in the bathroom
We use most of our tap water in the bathroom. The toilet alone can use up to 27 percent of household water, and a leaky toilet wastes about 200 gallons of water a day. Replace older toilets that use between 3.5 and 7 gallons of water per flush with low flow models that use only 1.5 gallons. A running faucet uses about 2 gallons of water per minute. Turn off the tap while brushing teeth or shaving and take shorter showers.

Showers can save money
You are likely to use less water when you take a shower than a bath, particularly if you have water efficient showerheads. Save up to 2 gallons per minute by simply cutting your shower short by a minute or two.

Garbage disposals gobble up water
Garbage disposals require a lot of water to operate properly. Consider starting a compost pile in your back yard as an alternate method of disposing food waste.

Cover your pool
The average uncovered pool loses one inch of water per week. By covering your pool you can also conserve heat, prevent accidents and reduce cleaning. You can also backwash only when necessary, limit how often you refill your pool and keep your filters clean.