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 Why worry?
Only 1 percent of the world's water is usable for drinking. With
precipitation only 47% of normal over the past 11 months, our drinking
water supply in Whatcom County is even more limited than usual. The
snow pack that normally melts during spring and summer into the Nooksack
River is below normal conditions. Groundwater supplies may be low,
affecting people that use wells. Several water systems in the state
that use wells are already experiencing shortages.
Now is an essential time to conserve water, but conservative water-use
habits should be continued even during rainy years.
Photo
by Shawn Askew, NCSU
Leaks
Bathrooms
Kitchens
Other-Indoor
Outside the House
Automobiles
Landscape
Watering
Reusing
Wastewater
Water Trivia
Water Conservation Lesson Plan
Water Conservation Crossword
You can now
check daily drought conditions through a new drought-information web
site created by the U.S. Geological Survey. This link updates information
about Washington river conditions daily to weekly.
If you're looking
for information regarding drought and agriculture, the WSU
Drought Web Site or OSU's
collection of water conservation publications are good places
to start.
According to
the American Water Works Association, less than 1% of the treated
water produced by water utilities is actually consumed. The rest
goes on lawns, in washing machines, and down toilets and drains.
Please help yourself and your neighbors by cutting down your water
use. Here are some tips to reduce water use around the house.
Leaks
The worst water
waster is leaks! Clean water drips down the drain without ever
being used. As much as 13 gallons can be lost in one day by one
leaky faucet. Check out this link where you can plug in the number
of drops wasted per minute and get a daily, monthly, and yearly
estimate of how much water you're wasting. USGS
Water Science Page.
Most leaks are
easy to repair without calling a plumber. Look at these links for
do-it-yourself steps to fixing leaks:
Repair
a faucet in 6 easy steps
Repair
steps for several types of leaks; including different
kinds of faucet heads and toilet leaks.
Bathroom
When trying
to conserve water, the bathroom is a great place to start because
approximately 75% of indoor water use is in the bathroom.
-
Toilet
- Displace
water in the toilet tank by filling a plastic quart bottle
with enough rock and water to make it sink. (Using bricks
is no longer suggested, because they can crumble and clog
plumbing.) Place the bottle where it won't interfere with
the internal plumbing.
Savings:
3-25 gallons per person/day.
- Check
for toilet leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring
in the tank. Don't flush and wait for 15 minutes. If there
is coloring in the bowl, you have a leak.
Savings:
Toilet leaks can silently waste more than 50 gallons/day
- Don't
use the toilet to dispose of garbage or cigarette butts.
There are wiser ways to use water.
Savings:
2-5 gallons/flush
-
Showers/Baths
- When you
run water to warm it up before stepping in the shower, put
a bucket under the tap, and use it to water your plants.
- Check
the rate your showerhead releases water. If a 1-gallon bucket
is filled in 20 seconds or less, you should install a water-saving
showerhead. These can be just as forceful as older showerheads,
but newer designs use less water. Some cost as little as ten
dollars and take less than ten minutes to install.
Savings: 2-6 gallons/minute
- Use pause
switches or turn water off while soaping up. Lather body and
wash hair while water is paused, then rinse all at once.
Savings: 2-6 gallons/minute
- Fill the
tub half way or less when taking a bath.
Savings: Up to 25 gallons/bath
-
Faucets
- Install
a water-saving aerator, which mixes air with the water to keep
the pressure high while using less water. They're cheap and
easy to install yourself.
Savings:
5 gallons/day
- Use a cup
or bowl to hold water rather than letting it run when you brush
your teeth or shave.
Saving:
3 gallons/minute
Kitchen
-
Dishes/Sink
Use
- Wait
to run the dishwasher until it's full. Use shorter wash cycles.
If you're looking to buy a new one, some Energy
Star dishwashers will use less water-some models can
even sense how dirty your dishes are, and adjust the amount
of water used accordingly.
Savings:
9-33 gallons/load
- Rather
than letting the water run, fill one side of the sink with
soapy wash water and fill the other with rinse water. If you
don't have two sinks, use a big pot or bowl for rinsing.
Savings: 3 gallons/minute
- Keep chilled
water in the refrigerator rather than running the tap to get
cold water.
Savings: 3 gallons/minute
- Use garbage
disposals sparingly. Compost or throw away food scraps. (Note
that meat and dairy products shouldn't be composted.) Only
use the disposal once at the end of cooking or clean up.
Savings:
3 gallons/minute
-
Food/Cooking
- Reuse water
from boiling pasta and vegetables, or leftover water from teakettles,
etc.
- Steam vegetables
with as little water as possible rather than boil. This will
also help your vegetables keep more of their vitamins.
Savings:
1/4 -1 gallon/preparation
- Thaw foods
in the refrigerator ahead of time or in the microwave (to be
cooked immediately). For more information about safely thawing
food while conserving water contact us at (360) 676-6736 or whatcom@wsu.edu
Savings:
3 gallons/minute
Other
Indoor
-
HouseplantsHouseplants
- Choose
varieties that have minimal watering needs.
Savings:
1-3gallons/month
- Check
plants before watering by pushing your finger ½" into the
soil. If it's moist, don't water.
Savings: 1-3 gallons/month
-
Laundry
- Run washing
machines on shorter cycles at minimal water levels and only
with full loads.
Savings:
33 gallons/load
- Upgrade
to a front-loading
washing machine. They use up to 40% less water and up to
60% less energy than top-loading machines. They get your clothes
cleaner, to boot.
Savings:
5-30 gallons/load
- Soak stained
clothes and scrub by hand (without the tap running) rather
than washing twice in the washing machine.
Savings:
2 gallons/wash
Outside
the House
- Instead
of washing your car at home, take it to a commercial car wash
where it is mandatory for them to recycle wastewater.
Savings:
10 gallons/minute
- Repair
leaks.
Savings:
One quart of oil can contaminate 60,000 gallons of drinking water
-
Landscape
- Hold up
on new landscaping during essential times of water conservations
because plants need more water when they're not well established.
- Choose
plant varieties that aren't "water needy."
- In
general, annuals are less able to withstand droughts
than perennials because they don't have as large of a
root system to store water.
- Specific
varieties for the Pacific Northwest are recommended in
these articles: Drought
Tolerant Plants by Mary Robson, WSU Extension Agent
and Low
Water Use Plants by Clallam County WSU Cooperative
Extension
- Low-water
plants often have special leaf features to keep water
from transpiring through them: covered in fine hairs
(snow-in-summer), waxy (evergreens), small (kinnickinnick),
thick and leathery (some viburnums), curled edges (holly),
reflective (magnolia), succulent (sedums).
- Click on
this link for Water
Conservation Techniques for Established Home Lawns West of
the Cascades (pdf)
- Place mulch
around plants and it will help keep moisture in the soil. Ground
bark, sawdust, wood shavings and chips are the best water savers.
Peat moss, rock mulches and black plastic are not recommended.
- Design
your landscape so that plants with similar water requirements
are grouped together.
- Avoid putting
plants in containers because they'll require more watering.
- Replace
turf areas with low-water plants.
- Use porous
materials in your landscape like bricks, wood decking, and
woodchips instead of pavement to reduce runoff of water.
- Keep established
trees in your landscape. They have extensive root systems that
can store a lot of water, making them better able to withstand
drought. They also provide shade from the hot sun, reducing
water loss to evaporation.
- Sharpen
mower blades. Grass blades left ragged by dull blades lose
more water.
- Use a broom
or rake for cleaning paved areas (driveways and sidewalks)
instead of a hose.
Savings:
10 gallons/minute
-
Watering
- Only water
enough to keep plants alive. For example, lawns turn brown
after long periods without water, but they will green up again
when it rains. Click here to
use a calculator to estimate potential daily water use of grass.
- Early morning
watering is best because the sun is not hot enough to evaporate
the water before it reaches plant roots. Evening watering isn't
preferred because plants that don't have the day to dry out
are prone to fungal diseases.
- Make sure
outdoor water taps are turned off when not in use. Repair or
replace leaky hoses.
- Calm days
are better than windy to keep water on a direct path to plant
roots.
- Don't water
faster than the ground can absorb the water. Aerating your
lawn will help with infiltration.
- Infrequently
watering slowly and deeply rather than frequent shallow watering
produces robust plants that can better withstand drought
- Only water
when you need to. Push your finger into the soil ½" and if
it's moist don't water.
- Reduce
watering frequency according to rainfall. However, watering
during a light rainfall maximizes watering benefits because
plants ready themselves for water uptake.
- Soaker
hoses and drip irrigation systems are much more efficient watering
systems than sprinklers or hand watering.
Savings:
Up to 60% less water is used with drip irrigation systems compared
to sprinklers.
Turning
Gray Water Green
Reusing wastewater,
also known as gray water, is an efficient way to use less water.
However, it is illegal in Washington to use some kinds of gray
water because bacteria can be spread. This site explains the ins
and outs of safely
reusing wastewater.
Water
Trivia-
adapted from the Chelan County
Public Utility District Conservation web site.
- People need
about 2.5 quarts of water a day (from drinking or eating) to
maintain good health. A person can live about a week without
water depending on the conditions
- 80 gallons
of water are used by the average person each day.
- 120 gallons
are needed to produce one egg.
- 150 gallons
are needed for one Sunday newspaper.
- 400 gallons
are recycled through our kidneys each day.
- 1,000 gallons
of water are needed to grow the wheat to make a 2 pound loaf
of bread
- 1,800 gallons
are needed to produce the cotton in one pair of jeans.
- 39,000 gallons
are needed to make an average sized car.
- 48,000 gallons
are needed to produce the typical American Thanksgiving dinner
for eight people.
- It can take
up to 45 minutes for a water supplier to produce one glass of
drinking water.
- An 8-ounce
glass of water can be filled 15,000 times for the same cost as
a 6-pack of soda.
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