On average, the first two people in a home each use 20 gallons of water per day. Each additional resident uses about 15 gallons per day. For a family of four, that amounts to a whopping 70 gallons consumed every day, or 25,550 gallons per year. Most of those 25,550 gallons go down the drain … literally. Is that any way to treat our most precious natural resource?
Here are a few practical ideas for conserving water:
• Use a rain barrel to collect run-off from your roof. Start with a simple rain barrel connected to the downspout of your gutter system. Most barrels come with a spigot and an attachment for a garden hose, so it is easy to use for watering your lawn or garden when Mother Nature doesn’t take care of it.
• Set up a more sophisticated system for storing rainwater. The water flows through a series of gullies and filter beds into an underground storage tank. This type of system comes prefabricated and is made of high-grade plastic.
• Install a wash and flush system. After using the toilet and flushing it, you wash your hands in the sink. The water from the sink then goes back into the tank, ready for the next person to use the toilet.
• Purchase water-conserving toilets, such as the dual-flush variety. And install low-flow showerheads in your bathrooms.
• Recycle your home’s gray water—that is, all water used in the home except from toilets. This “used” water makes up 50 to 80 percent of all residential wastewater. It can be used to water your landscaping, among other things.
Visit www.graywater.net for more information.