WORLD WATER DAY: 7 simple ways to conserve water

With more and more areas struggling with droughts, conserving water is more important than ever. Even if you’re not living in a drought-stricken region, cutting back on water use also means a lower utility bill and helps conserve this precious resource.

There are lots of big and small ways that you can do to conserve water around the home. Don’t worry if you can’t do everything on this list. Just pick a few things to start with, and do more as you can. Even a few small changes can add up to hundreds of gallons in water savings each year! Here are 7 water-saving tips to get you going…

1.  Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. Water comes out of the average faucet at 7 litres of water per minute. Don’t let all that water go down the drain while you brush! Turn off the faucet after you wet your brush, and leave it off until it’s time to rinse.

2. Turn off the tap while washing your hands. Do you need the water to run while you’re scrubbing your hands? Save a few litres of water and turn the faucet off after you wet your hands until you need to rinse.

3. Fix your leaks. Whether you go DIY or hire a plumber, fixing leaky faucets can mean big water savings.

4. Cut your showers short. Older shower heads can use as much as 10 litres of water per minute. Speed things up in the shower for some serious water savings.

5. Water your garden with a watering can: Water your garden with a watering can rather than a hosepipe. A hosepipe can use as much as 1,000 litres of water an hour. Also, water your plants in the morning, you’ll need less water since cooler morning temperatures mean losing less water to evaporation.

6. Washing a lot of dishes? Fill up your sink with water, instead of letting it run the whole time that you’re scrubbing.

7. Use less electricity. Power plants use thousands of gallons of water to run. Do your part to conserve power, and you’re indirectly saving water, too!