How to properly conserve water?

Two thirds of the earth is covered by water, and the human body consists 75% of it.

Water is one of the most important needs of man. Without it, it will be very uncomfortable to live and do things around. There is no doubt that water is really important. It is not only the human beings who get to benefit from it, but all the living things, and in some other ways, even the non-living things too.


Everyday, people waste billions of gallons of water with no regard to the fact that people in other countries across the globe, would fight just to have the water that we are wasting. There are some people who don't understand the importance of water conservation.


Water conservation is a big thing, but every little bit helps. Conserving of water needs to be a way of life, not just something we think about once in a while.


Listed below are some ways on how to conserve water. These are:


1. Check faucets and pipes for leaks. A small drip from a worn faucet can waste 20 gallons of water per day. Therefore, larger leaks can waste hundreds of gallons and even more. It is advisable to use a water meter to check for hidden water leaks.


2. Recycle water. For instance, you are done washing your clothes, and the next thing that you will do is to water the plants. You can just save the water and place a plastic or a winter cover to cover it up while you are not yet about to water the plants, so that the animals will not drink or play with it.


3. Don't use the toilet as an ashtray or waste basket. Every time you flush a cigarette butt, a napkin or a tissue in the toilet bowl, about 7 gallons of water is being wasted.


4. Insulate your water pipes. Insulating your water pipes with pre-slit foam pipe insulation is just easy and inexpensive. You will get hot water faster and wasting of heated water is lessen.


5. Take shorter showers. One way to cut down on water use is to turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse. A four-minute shower uses approximately 20 to 40 gallons of water.


6. Turn off the water after you wet the toothbrush. There is no need to keep the water running while brushing your teeth. Just wet the toothbrush and fill a glass for mouth rinsing.


7. When washing dishes by hand, don't leave the water running when not in use. It is advisable to fill the basin with soapy water. This can minimize your water consumption.


8. Keep a bottle of drinking water in the fridge. Running tap water to cool it off for drinking water is wasteful. Store drinking water in the fridge, using a safe drinking bottle. Never ever gather and clean empty bottles that you do not know where did they come from or what was placed in those. It might be a container of a chemical, a pool cleaner, an acid, or anything that can be dangerous and may cause you harm.


9. Use a rain barrel to collect water from your roof's downspout to irrigate your garden. During a heavy rain fall, there are a lot of water that are being wasted if you don't get to collect them. Those rain waters can either be used in watering your plants, cleaning your vehicles, and even your house windows. If you don't feel like doing those tasks yet but then you were able to fill a container up, you can use any hard material to cover it up such as a winter cover, or the barrel's cover itself.


10. Sweep, rather than spraying down your driveway or sidewalk. If you don't necessarily need to spray down your sidewalk, simply sweeping it will be alright for the cleaning.


Saving water at home does not require any significant cost outlay. Although there are water saving appliances and water conservation systems such as rain barrels, drip irrigation, and on demand water heaters which are more expensive, the bulk of water saving methods can be achieved at a little cost.