Water is an important resource for everyone and having clean water should never be taken for granted. With droughts becoming more frequent and a quickly growing population, some states struggle with clean water deficits. During the summer, the average household consumes more water than at any other time in the seasons, so we compiled six easy tips for saving water during summer.
Use the Dishwasher
As odd as it sounds, research shows that in houses with two or more people, the dishwasher uses less water than hand washing dishes. For saving water during summer, scrape off your dishes, don’t pre-rinse them, and run the dishwasher once you have a completely full load.
People Saving Water During Summer Take Showers, Not Baths
The typical bath uses around 30 to 50 gallons of water. That’s of course if you just fill the tub one time—most bathers add additional hot water as the water cools down. An older showerhead on average uses up to 20 gallons of water, but fitting it with an updated low-flow showerhead can reduce water consumption to only 10 gallons per shower—if you don’t stay in there for long. If every member of your household cuts 2-3 minutes off their shower time, you’ll save on your water bill throughout the year!
Repair Faulty Faucets
At some point, you’ll most likely find at least one dripping faucet around the house. A small drip may not seem like a huge deal, but over time, one drop per second is around 2700 gallons of water each year! If you don’t fix the leak right away, it’ll get worse and consume even more water (leaks never repair themselves).
You can stop leaky fixtures easily without contacting a plumber. DIY faucet-repair tools are sold at most home centers and hardware stores. Refer to the faucet’s installation handbook to ensure you’re purchasing the correct replacement kit.
Hot Water Pipe Insulation
Pipe insulation is usually not the first thing that comes to mind about saving water during summer, but it’s amazing. Imagine all the water that gets wasted as you’re standing there waiting for water from your shower or sink to heat up.
If you wrap thick foam-rubber insulation around each hot water supply pipe around the house, the water traveling through the pipe will stay hot longer, reducing the length of time it needs to travel to the faucet. You’ll also save money on your bills because it won’t take as much to energy to heat the water.
Smart Laundry
Modern super-efficient washing machines consume a lot less water and electricity than models manufactured just a decade ago, but you can decrease water consumption even more. To begin, only wash full loads of laundry. If you need to wash an incomplete load, balance the water level to suit the load. Avoid using the permanent-press setting, which handles extra water throughout the last rinse cycle.
Replace rubber water-supply tubing with braided stainless-steel hoses, which are a lot more permanent and less prone to cracking or bursting open. Finally, when you’re leaving for a trip or extended amounts of time, you can take preventative measures for saving water during summer by turning off the hot and cold valves in the case of a hose rupture.
Guardian Home Inspection Services provides home inspection services including water testing and septic and well inspections so that you can be sure that your water source is clean and functioning properly. Contact us to schedule any of our services.