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No one can live without water, but many of us could do without high water bills. If you find that your water usage has mysteriously crept higher each billing period, you might want to check out your habits and see if there's any room for improvement. Many of us waste water without even realizing it; having access to cool, clean water every day makes running it become second nature, and if we're not as conscious with how much water we use, even everyday acts can cause our bills to skyrocket.
Explore these common ways you might be wasting water along with some money-saving solutions.
Showering Too Much for Too Long
Whether you like to kick your morning off with a hot shower or relax in one after a long day at work, you could be wasting liters upon liters of water. An eight-minute shower consumes approximately over 64.35 liters of water, which means a half-hour or a full 60 minutes could charge you far more than you care to spend.
Showering too frequently can also damage your skin, too. Experts recommend you thoroughly bathe once or twice a week. Eliminating daily showers will help you save money, improve your skin, strengthen your hair and increase your body's natural layer of good bacteria.
Half-Loaded Laundry Machines
Filling your washer halfway still uses a full load's worth of water. In fact, washing your clothes less frequently, and in greater amounts, will ensure that you conserve more water and money.
In order to cut back and save, you might want to upgrade to ENERGY STAR washers and dryers; these appliances use less energy and water than their regular competitors.
Additionally, washing on cold when possible will also help lower utility bills so that you can save two-in-one.
Washing Dishes With the Water Running
It's common in some households to wash dishes under a stream of hot water, but in others, the norm is to fill the sink or a small basin with soapy water beforehand. This may seem gross, but it's actually an effective way to save you time. Instead of scrubbing incessantly, let dishes soak in the suds for several minutes, then just rinse them off!
It would help if you also washed by hand when possible; dishwashers are a modern luxury, but they're too costly. A single cycle typically consumes 22.71 liters of water, while an ENERGY STAR appliance uses 15.14 liters. This may seem practical enough, but if you're running the dishwasher every day when it's not even full, you're wasting precious water for no reason.
Flushing Things You Shouldn’t
We all know children are prone to flushing foreign objects down the toilet, but plenty of adults use their toilet as a disposal as well. Toilets use the most water in your home; one flush uses approximately 18.93 liters to 26.50 liters of water. If you use your toilet as a stand-in trash can for feminine hygiene products or other waste material, you use unnecessary water and risk clogging your pipes.
Blockages can cause leaks, which may eventually lead to bursts if they aren't repaired.
Hidden Leaks
It's possible that your plumbing could be secretly leaking water without you even knowing — and this happens more frequently than you think.
In order to check for a leak in your home, look for any puddles or droplets around the base of your toilet, faucets and pipe fittings. An excellent way to test for a leaky toilet is to place a drop of food dye in the bowl and wait 10 minutes. If any coloring is visible in 10 minutes, you have a leak. Be sure to flush after this test, though, so you can avoid staining.