[Frugal] Conserving Water Usage

[PollyParakeet]

Hello, everyone~

I was wondering if you all could share some ways that you conserve water in your home?

In our small town, avg water bills are between $75 - $100 dollars per month. Ours usually runs right around $80. That includes water, sewer (this is the largest charge, and is based on gallons of water usage), taxes, and a few bucks for garbage pickup.

Water savings would cut both the water and sewer portions of the bill, equating to substantial savings. We have been trying to cut back, but so far we haven't been successful in reducing the bill. What are some ways you save on water usage in your home? Maybe there are some ideas that we are overlooking.

Thank you all so much~
~Polly

 

[Deena in GA]

Well, this may sound crazy but the biggest help for us when we were going through years of drought and our well was going dry, was to save the bathwater in the tub from the last person's bath at night and use it to flush toilets with the next day. Then, of course, there's the stuff you probably already know - turn off the water while you're brushing your teeth, don't let it ever run unless you're really using it, take short showers instead of baths if you can, only wash a full load of clothes or dishes, etc. When I'm rinsing dishes or something like that I catch the water in a pot and use it on my plants. We tried to wear clothes longer before washing as much as possible and used paper plates and styrofoam cups and bowls (as much as I hate styrofoam) to keep from having to wash dishes as much.

 

[Mushroom]

If you do any outside watering, you might consider catching some rainwater for this purpose. I keep 55 gallon drums full of rainwater and keep 2 goldfish in each to keep down the bugs. I only feed them once in a while with goldfish food. They live over winter by going dormant. When it is cold, they don't eat much, so I don't supplement their food with the storebought. Bugs are enough. I have had mine in the drum for almost 3 years now. Beware of fish stealing coons.

If you live in an area that permits it, a graywater system might help. I catch the shower water and the clothes wash water for the garden. I am careful about amendments that I add to the wash as well as any hair gunk in the shower. So far, my pecan tree and garden love it. We have a French drain that the water drains into and directs it to the tree and garden. It keeps the ground from cracking and directing any water away from my plants.

Always use a basin to catch the water you lose when waiting for the hot water to appear at the faucet. Use it for flushing or something like that.

The advice from the other posters is also very good. It is more of an awareness change than anything else. Just be aware of your usage and you will see where your waste is.

Mushroom

 

[suzy]

Polly, we've always used rain water for outside plants and watering. Since we have a heavily planted yard, that has to save some money. We have rain barrels under each of the spouts, that catch the water. We have a hose attached, just like the OLD WASH TUBS, that we simply lower, to fill buckets.

As a kid, I remember that Grandma would use the laundry water at least twice, sometimes 3 times if it wasn't too dirty. Instead of the hose going into the drain, it went into buckets, and the buckets were then again added to the washer for the next load.
Saved a LOT of soap too.

At our house we have installed the water efficient shower heads, and make an honest attempt not to use more water than we need, even though ours is about half the monthly cost as yours.

Good luck with your water saving project!

suzy

 

[ShepInTheValley]

For 2 winters in a row, we kept running out of water from our well. We'd been going through a drought for 3 years so and assumed it was related to that somehow (we haven't lived with a well before). It ended up being a bad hydrant that was leaking underground but while all this was going on, we were having to haul water and conserve drastically.

We have water saving toilets and - when it was just us here, we'd flush ONLY when necessary. I used dishpans to contain the water instead of letting it go down the drain, and would use that water to flush with. I'd collect rainwater or snow (letting it melt) for watering plants. Instead of letting the water drain out after showering or bathing, we'd use a stopper and then I'd scoop that water out of the tub into a bucket for more flushing water.

Instead of using the washer, I'd hand wash, again using a container that I could keep the water in for reuse later. No water was used only once... but this was dire conditions... I'd never want to live that way on a long term basis. It was back breaking and horrible.

If your bill includes refuge pickup and sewer, most likely those are a large portion of your bill which you don't have much control over. If you don't have water saving toilets, this is something to consider. When washing dishes, use a dishpan or plug the sink for your rinse water instead of letting the water run freely.

We also have a drainage system that takes the rain run off down into our garden area. This helps a lot when it comes to watering our garden.

I sure wish I could offer you easier suggestions.