When washing dishes, use a little detergent and only open the faucet to rinse off the utensils.
Install sink aerators which reduce the amount of water running per minute and increase pressure.
Thaw food in the fridge the night before instead of using the faucet to defrost. Nearly 3 gallons of water per minute are wasted by a fully open faucet.
When washing dishes, do not let water run while soaping or rinsing.
Use your dishwasher or clothes washer only with full loads, you could save 1,000 gallons or 3.78 m3 per month.
Wash your fruits and vegetables in a bowl partially filled with water instead of under the faucet.
Use the same drinking glass throughout the day, so you save water when washing dishes.
Check the shut-off valves and fix them. It is simple, cheap, and you can save 140 gallons a week or about 2 m3 a month.
In the bathroom
Throw disposable tissues and cotton balls in the trash can instead of flushing them down the toilet and you will be saving gallons of water.
Shower in less than 5 minutes and save up to 1,000 gallons or 3.78 m³ per month. A shower running for 10 minutes uses 26½ gallons of water.
Pour food coloring into the toilet tank. If the water in the bowl gets colored, your toilet has a leak. Fix it and you could save more than 600 gallons or 2.27 m³ per month.
If your toilet was made before 1980, place a plastic gallon full of water inside the tank to control the amount of water used in each flush. Make sure it does not interfere with the tank's mechanisms.
Place the tub stopper on the bathtub before opening the faucet, then adjust the temperature as the tub fills, but never fill it to capacity.
If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket of water in less than 20 seconds, install a low-flow showerhead. It saves you up to 500 gallons or almost 2 m3 a week.
Close the faucet when you brush your teeth and save 4 gallons of water per minute. That is 200 gallons a week or 3 m3 a month for a family of four.
If you close the faucet while shaving, you will save more than 100 gallons a week or 1.5 m3 a month.
Turn off the shower while you lather up or apply your shampoo or conditioner and save more than 50 gallons a week or more than 1 m3 a month.
In the yard
Use a broom instead of a hose to clean the garage or sidewalk and save 80 gallons of water each time.
Put a layer of organic mulch around the plants to reduce evaporation and you will save hundreds of gallons of water a year.
Direct roof gutters and drains to shrubs and trees, or collect that water and use it to irrigate your plants.
Minimize water evaporation by watering your plants early in the morning, when temperatures are lower and winds are lighter.
Do not mow the lawn too much. A taller grass protects the roots and better preserves soil moisture.
When you wash
Wash full loads of clothes. Each cycle consumes 32 to 50 gallons of water. Use little detergent.
Wash your car on the lawn, use the water for both purposes.
Limit car washing. Use a bucket with soap and water to soap it up and the hose with a nozzle to rinse it.
Recycle water from the washing machine to water plants or clean the floor of the house or wash the car.
Use a hose with a nozzle and you will save more than 100 gallons each time. An open hose wastes up to 10 gallons per minute.
Bathe your pets in an area of the garden that needs water.
When changing the water in your fish tank, use the old one to water the plants. It is water rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, which provides an efficient and free fertilizer. This saves you gallons or cubic meters equal to the capacity that your fish tank has.
