Saving Water At Your Home

This is wasting water! Try filling a bowl of cold water to wash your vegetables. Turn the water off when brushing your teeth. As Americans we all use too much water inside and outside.

Americans have always had an abundance of clean, fresh water. Homeowners in Utah use as much water as anyone. Trouble is that we only have a limited amount of fresh water.

Utah is the second driest state in the country. Homeowners in Utah, Salt Lake and Davis counties use an average of 65% to water their yards.

Ways to Save Water Outside

• Check for leaking sprinkler heads
• Do not water concrete surfaces
• Plant drought tolerant plants
• Mulch your trees, shrubs and perennials
• Water your lawn only when it needs it

Many water wise shrubs, ornamental grasses and perennials look great and are very drought tolerant. Plant slopes with shrubs that hold the slope and retain water.

Use a leaf litter mulch to cover your trees, shrubs and perennials. A 2" layer of mulch will help conserve soil moisture and cool the soil down. It also helps control unwanted weeds.

Water your yard only when it needs it. Check for soil moisture by jabbing a screw driver down. Until it comes up dry it is not time to water. Walk on your grass, until it does not spring up it is not time to water.

Set your mower height to 3" to promote healthier grass and increased soil moisture. Short of replacing your turf with drought tolerant grass, you only need about an inch of water a week.

Try deep soaking each time you water your lawn. This allows water to reach deep down to the roots. Avoid the common mistake of daily cycle watering which does not water the roots.

Water very early in the day since it prevents the growth of fungus. You will also reduce the loss of water to evaporation with early watering. Your slug and garden pests will be diminished with early watering.

Simple Facts About Water Use

• Americans use over 100,000 gallons a year
• They use 100 to 120 gallons a day
• Toilets waste the most water of any use
• Leaky toilets waste about 8,000 gallons per month
• A leaky faucet displaces 3,000 gallons a year
• In the U.S. Americans use 400 billion gallons per day

Check your toilet for leaks. Insert some food coloring in your tank, if it starts to show up in your bowl within a half hour you have a leak. Repairs are relatively inexpensive and easy to fix.

Other Water Saving Tips for Inside Your House

• Affix a float booster or plastic bottles filled with gravel
• Saves 5 to 10 gallons of water per day
• Insulate your water pipes
• Take shorter showers, a 4-minute shower uses 20 to 40 gallons
• Operate dish and clothes washers at capacity
• Limit or eliminate using your sink disposal unit
• Instead build a compost pile and add to your gardens riches

Look at more water saving tips: https://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/

Look for hidden leaks in your system though checking your water meter. After two hours if it changes you have a leak.

Installing low flow faucet and shower heads is an inexpensive way to save water. A typical shower head expels five to ten gallons every minute. Try turning off your shower head after lathering up.

Fit your faucets with an aerator, it is the best water saving method and the cheapest.

Wasatch front homeowners in Utah, Salt Lake and Davis counties stand to save much water through some simple techniques. Give it a try and benefit the environment.