Imagine stepping back in time to the days when people had to fetch water from a nearby stream. How much water do you think you would use in a day? How much do you think you would waste?
Albe and Marle once calculated that a family of four uses 110,000 gallons of water a year. That's a whopping 300 gallons a day!
As communities grow, more water must be drawn from aquifers, or groundwater. Unless this water is replaced at the same rate it is withdrawn, our water supply is threatened.
Using less water saves a precious natural resource.
Caretaker's Checklist
- Don't run water continuously when washing your car, brushing your teeth, doing the dishes, or shaving. Take fast showers instead of baths.
- Use dishwashers and washing machines only when you have full loads. Run them on the water saver cycle whenever possible.
- Replace standard plumbing fixtures with water-saving faucets and shower heads and low-flush toilets.
- Purchase an inexpensive toilet dam or water-saver flush valve to save up to 2.5 gallons a flush. A plastic jug filled with water and sand placed in the toilet tank will also help save water.
- Check faucets and toilets to be sure you have no leaks. Add food coloring to your toilet tank and, without flushing, check for color in the bowl an hour later.
- Keep a container of drinking water in the refrigerator to avoid having to run the water until it gets cold.
As
a nation, we Americans dump 16 tons of sewage into our waters every minute
of every day. Yet, without major inconvenience or expense, each household
could save 15 to 20 percent of the water
it currently uses.
