5 Everyday Ways To Conserve Water

Water is a precious resource, and conserving it is crucial for the environment and future generations. Here are five simple yet effective ways to save water in your daily life.

1. Fix Leaks Promptly

Leaky faucets and pipes can waste a significant amount of water. A dripping tap can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water a year. Check all your faucets, showerheads, and toilets regularly for leaks and fix them immediately. Replacing worn-out washers and gaskets can often solve the problem. If you’re unsure how to fix a leak, consider hiring a plumber to prevent further water wastage.

2. Install Water-Saving Fixtures

Modern fixtures are designed to use less water without compromising performance. Consider installing low-flow showerheads, faucets, and dual-flush toilets. These fixtures can reduce your water usage by up to 50%. Aerators for faucets are another excellent investment, as they mix air with water, reducing the flow while maintaining pressure. Look for the products with the WaterSense label: these have been certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as meeting water efficiency standards.

3. Practice Smart Landscaping

For many homeowners, the most significant portion of their water consumption comes from outdoor use, such as watering the grass. While we all want our lawns to look bright and green, it’s also important to consider alternative options that will use less water while still maintaining a pleasant, natural appearance to our homes. Try some “Xeriscaping” ideas to beautify your home while saving water: these include

• Choosing drought-resistant plants that are native to your geographic area, which require less water to remain alive.
• Plant more shrubs, trees and ground cover to reduce the square footage of grass that needs regular watering.
• Use mulch around trees and in flower beds to help retain moisture.
• Group plants with similar water needs together.
• Use a drip irrigation system, rather than a sprinkler system, to deliver water directly to your plant’s roots.
• Water your grass earlier in the morning or later at night to minimize water loss due to evaporation.

4. Use Appliances Efficiently

Household appliances like dishwashers and washing machines are significant water users. To maximize efficiency, always run these appliances with full loads. Select water-saving modes if available, and consider upgrading to energy-efficient models that use less water and energy.

When hand-washing dishes, fill one basin with soapy water and another with rinse water instead of letting the tap run. Similarly, when washing clothes, match the water level to the size of the load.

5. Adopt Water-Saving Habits

Water is so easily accessible for most of us in America, and so it can be very easy to take our abundance of water for granted. It can be easy to imagine that if one person wastes a little bit of water, it’s no big deal. But this water waste adds up, and can have a real impact on the water supply, especially in regions going through drought.

You can do your part by being aware of how much water you use in your everyday habits, and to make sure you are only as much water as you need. Simple changes in daily habits, like these, can make a big difference in water conservation:

• Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth or shaving.
• Take shorter showers; aim for five minutes or less.
• When rinsing fruits and vegetables, use a bowl of water instead of running tap water, and then use the leftover water for plants.
• Collect rainwater for outdoor use by installing rain barrels, which can be used for watering your garden and lawn.

Bonus tip: Take notes each time you use water during the day. You might be surprised how much you use – and you might be able to brainstorm ideas to reduce your usage. It can make a real difference!

Make An Even Greater Impact on Water Scarcity with Embrace Relief!

For many people around the world, managing water consumption isn’t just helpful: it’s necessary to survive. More than 250 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live every day with water scarcity – that is, without an easily accessible, safe-to-consume source of drinking water. Many must walk several miles each day to reach their nearest water source; others must fetch their water from unprotected lakes, rivers, and watering holes, where it may be contaminated with waste or dangerous bacteria.

That’s why Embrace Relief works to build water wells in Africa. To date, we have built or reconstructed more than 900 water wells, expanding access to clean drinking water to more than 950,000 people. When water is abundant, we no longer have to worry about having enough to drink, to grow our food, to clean ourselves, or to do any of the daily tasks that help us stay happy, healthy and productive. That’s the impact that Embrace Relief has made, thanks to generous donors like you!

Be a part of Embrace Relief’s Clean Water Initiative and donate using the box below to help us make clean water a reality for even more communities in Africa.

Or, if you want to make an even bigger impact this holiday season, click here to build your very own water well project! Our wells cost just $3,500, and a donation of this amount entitles you to name your well, leaving a legacy of compassion and hope for years to come.

Give the gift of clean water today!