WATER CONSERVATION
Increasing population, and drought conditions in the
United States are causing the drinkable water available
to decrease. We can all help conserve water by
following a few simple steps. Following these simple tips
can save thousands of gallons of water every year! If
you see water being wasted in your home, fix the
problem. If you see water being wasted elsewhere do
what you can to point it out and stop wasting water -
we're all in this together.
  • Check pipes and fixtures in your home to assure they are leak-free. A toilet bowl leak is
    probably the greatest waster of water in homes. A leak of 1 gallon every 24 minutes
    (which is an average amount for a toilet bowl leak) wastes 60 gallons of water per day!
    To check for toilet leaks, add 10 drops of food coloring to the tank. Wait 15 minutes. If
    color appears in the bowl, you have a leak. Often these leaks can be fixed with a few
    minor adjustments, cleaning calcium deposits from the toilet ball in the tank, or by
    replacing valves. Installing low-flow shower heads, taps, faucets, and toilets is worth
    considering.  The Albuquerque Water Conservation Office research shows that older
    faucets use between 3 and 7 gallons per minute, while low-flow aerators reduce flow to
    1.5 gallons per minute. Likewise, a low-flow toilet can reduce water used per flush by
    30 percent, from approximately 5 gallons to 1.6 gallons. In drought  stricken areas like
    parts of Africa  people  don’t have as much water daily as we use to flush a regular
    toilet once. For a quick water reducer in toilets, put plastic jugs filled with stones in your
    toilet tank. Don't use bricks, they can flake off inside the tank and interfere with the
    toilet's operation.
  • Run your dishwasher and washing machine only if you have a full load.
  • Do things to save water like turning the sink off while brushing your teeth.
  • Fill a pitcher for refrigerated drinking water & to water plants with to save water when
    waiting for it to heat up or cool down.
  • Throw things like facial tissue in the wastebasket, not the toilet.
  • Remember, the shorter your shower is, the less water that goes down the drain.
    Lowering the water pressure slightly will also save water. Lowering the water pressure
    slightly will also save water.
  • If you have aquariums, use the water you siphon to water your plants. Your Plants will
    love you for it and thrive.
  • Clean your driveway, sidewalks and porches with a broom, not a hose.
  • Lawns should stay green if you water every 3 to 5 days if left at least 2" long when
    mowed. When you water your lawn, apply 3/4” to 1” of water slowly enough that runoff
    and puddles do not occur. You may also plant drought tolerant grass; your local nursery
    can advise you on this.
  • Slow evaporation by watering before 10:00 am or after 6:00 pm.
  • Don’t water the street, driveway or sidewalks.
  • Use a bucket to wash your car and a hose to rinse . If you do this on your lawn, and use
    laundry detergent, you can also accomplish the duel purpose of watering and treating for
    certain pests like grubs. Turning off the hose while washing car will save about 150
    gallons of water. A garden hose delivers between 600 and 1,900 gallons of water per
    hour depending on the size of the hose and water pressure.A hose left on overnight, can
    waste as much water as the average family uses in two months.
  • Consider Xeriscape as landscaping with minimal maintenance and watering needs.
  • Mulch will help gardens maintain soil moisture and control weeds.
Our Environment Is Our Future And It Is Up To Us To Protect It For Our
Children.
The Future Of Our World Is Our Responsibility.
You Can Help Keep Our Future Safe, Just By Following These Basic
Guidelines.
  • Correctly dispose of hazardous household products. Keep paints, used oil, cleaning
    solvents, polishes, pool chemicals, insecticides, and other hazardous household
    chemicals out of drains, sinks, and toilets. Many of these products contain harmful
    substances -- such as sodium hypochlorite, petroleum distillates, phenol and cresol,
    ammonia and formaldehyde -- that can end up in nearby water bodies. Contact your local
    sanitation, public works, or environmental health department to find out about hazardous
    waste collection days and sites. If a local program is not available, request one.
  • Use nontoxic household products when possible. Discarding toxic products correctly is
    important, but not buying them in the first place is better. Ask local stores to carry nontoxic
    products if they don’t. For examples of safe substitutes for toxic household products,
    check EPA’s EnviroSense website.
  • Recycle and dispose of all trash properly. Never flush non-degradable products -- such
    as disposable diapers, tampon applicators, or cigarette butts -- down the toilet. They can
    damage the sewage treatment process and end up littering beaches and waters.
  • Do NOT Put Grease Down Drains. Instead pour it into a can to throw in the trash.
  • Don’t put food down the drain. It makes it very difficult to clean wastewater.
  • Use natural fertilizers. Apply natural fertilizer such as compost, manure, bone meal or peat
    whenever possible. Ask your local hardware and garden supply stores to stock these
    natural fertilizers. You can also buy a composting setup at a garden supply or hardware
    store, or by mail. Composting decreases the need for fertilizer and helps soil retain
    moisture. If you don’t know how to compost, visit The Compost Resource Page or the
    EPA’s composting pages.
  • Avoid over-watering lawns and gardens. Use slow-watering techniques on lawns and
    gardens. Over-watering lawns can increase the leaching of fertilizers into groundwater.
    Trickle or "drip" irrigation systems and soaker hoses are 20 percent more efficient than
    sprinklers. Install back flow preventer's on sprinklers systems to avoid contaminating city
    water supplies with back flow fertilizer.
  • Decrease hard surfaces around your home. Having fewer hard surfaces of concrete and
    asphalt will improve drainage around your home and in your yard. Do landscaping with
    vegetation, gravel or other porous materials instead of cement; install wood decking
    instead of concrete, and interlocking bricks and paver stones for walkways. Redirect rain
    gutters and down spouts to soil, grass or gravel areas. Planting vegetation at lower
    elevations near hard surfaces allows runoff  to seep into soil.
  • Maintain septic systems. Have your septic tank cleaned out every three to five years.
    Effluent (run off) from failed or poorly maintained septic systems contaminates
    groundwater. Monitoring and cleaning your system regularly also saves money by
    prolonging the life of the system,and saves you money in the long-run.
  • Pick up your pets droppings before they wash into a waterway, or leach into the ground.
  • Recycle used motor oil. Avoid pouring waste oil into gutters or down storm drains, and
    resist the temptation to dump wastes onto the ground. A single quart of motor oil that
    seeps into groundwater can pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water. If you don’t have a
    place to recycle used motor oil in your community, ask your local sanitation or public
    works department to create one. When you buy motor oil, ask if the store or service
    station has a program to take back waste oil and recycle it. Keep up with car maintenance
    to reduce leaking of oil, coolant, antifreeze and other hazardous fluids.
  • Help identify, report and stop polluters. Join a local clean water or environmental group
    that monitors industries and sewage treatment plants that are discharging wastes. Local
    groups can be effective working together with state environmental agencies, EPA and
    national organizations like NRDC to ensure that industries comply with regulations.
  • Be active. Contact your public officials and attend hearings to encourage them to support
    laws and programs to protect our water. Ask officials to control polluted runoff, increase
    protection for wetlands and other aquatic ecosystems, reduce the flow of toxins into our
    waterways, and strengthen enforcement. Volunteer for a beach or stream clean up, tree
    planting, water quality sampling, or stream pollution monitoring project sponsored by a
    local environmental group or watershed council. Visit NRDC’s Earth Action Center to get
    government contact information and learn about urgent issues you can get in involved in.
  • To find a local clean water organization in your area, contact the Clean Water Network at
    cleanwaternt@igc.org.
To save water indoors:
To Conserve Water Outdoors:
TOGETHER WE CAN SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT
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