Believe it or not, fresh water is a precious commodity. I think we often make the mistake of having fresh water so readily available to us for granted. We as a society have become accustomed to having a clean water supply available for use in our homes and almost anywhere we are throughout the day.
Most of us don’t realize that the majority of our water has been heavily filtered from our waste water that we so casually let flow down our drains. Water is one of those resources that is reused over and over again, yet we never stop to think about the energy and resources it takes to filter and treat the water to make it drinkable.
The EPA estimates that an average family of 4 uses about 400-500 gallons of water per day.
It is up to us, the general population, to make the necessary changes to our daily routines to conserve the water that we use. In doing so, the water treatment plants will be required to treat less water and therefore use less energy and resources over time. Also, it is a good way to save money every month.
Here are 5 ways to conserve water…
1. Check for Leaks
A single small leak or dripping faucet is estimated to waste about 100-200 gallons of water a day. Check your faucet and pipe system inside & out of your home on a regular basis to ensure that nothing is leaking.
2. Install a Well
In these modern times we have generally moved away from onsite wells that provide water to a single home. However, drawing water directly from the ground and feeding it to your home is a good way to go “off the grid” and rely on your own energy and resources to filter and treat the water to make it drinkable. If you are using a form of alternative energy to perform this task you are doing an even better job.
3. Install an On Demand Hot Water Heater
It is estimated that up to 40% of the water that we use on a daily basis flows directly down the drain in an effort to get the desired temperature of water that we want. We let the faucet run until the hot water comes from the gas hot water heater 30 feet away to the faucet wasting gallon upon gallon of water in the process. By installing an “On Demand Hot Water Heater” the water gets heated almost immediately at the point of distribution, saving both natural gas and water in the process.
4. Install New Toilets
Older model toilets use anywhere from 3-5 gallons of water per flush. A new model toilet uses on average 1.5 gallons of water per flush. It practically pays for itself.
Don’t throw the old toilets away. Reuse them by turning them into yard art. 
5. Stop rinsing your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher.
Most dishwashers today use 10-15 gallons of water per cycle. Add to that the 10 gallons or so you use to rinse your dishes before you put them in the dish washer and now have used 20-25 gallons. Dish washers today are made to be very efficient both in how much water they use and how clean they get the dishes without having to rinse them before hand. If you don’t have a dish washer, try filling up your sink half way with water instead of letting the water run the whole time. You can save 10-15 gallons per day with this little change.
You must decide…
Conserving water is a choice that each of us must make for ourselves. It is to often that we take things that we use everyday for granted and then complain to some government entity when it is no longer provided. Imagine if you had to forage and provide your own water supply each and everyday. I bet you that none of us would consume the average of 100 gallons per person per day. We wouldn’t even know where to look or even how to treat the water we found to make it drinkable.
Be mindful of the amount of this precious resource we use that we call “fresh water.
