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Save Your Water
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Water Tips
Efficiency is for everyone. We all know energy and water efficiency are keys to a better and brighter future.
Learning more about how to reduce your energy and water usage gives you the power to conserve for our community, and save money on your utility bills.
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Tips to Save Water
Water is one of our most precious natural resources, and everyone in our community should be doing their best to conserve water all the time. If each of us can do just one thing each day to save water - even if it’s only a couple of gallons - our community can save more than a million gallons of water each week. The following are no-cost and low-cost ways to reduce water usage in and around your home.
- Fix leaky faucets and plumbing joints immediately. Many silent leaks, indoors and out, can waste more than 10% of your monthly usage. It's easy, inexpensive, and can save 20 gallons per day for each leak stopped - check your water meter and bill to track water usage.
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INDOORS
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Bathrooms
- If possible, replace toilets built before 1994; they use 3 1/2 gallons per flush, while newer models use only 1.6 gallons.
- Check for leaks by dropping a little food coloring in your toilet tank; if, without flushing, the color appears in the bowl, you have a leak. Fortunately, the flapper and fill valve are easy, inexpensive replacements.
- Don’t use your toilet as a wastebasket - water down the drain also adds to sewage treatment costs.
- Install water-saving low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators.
- Take shorter showers.
- When taking a bath, plug the bathtub before turning the water on, then adjust the temperature as the tub fills.
- Turn the water off while shampooing and conditioning your hair.
- Turn off the water while shaving and fill the bottom of the sink with a few inches of water to rinse your razor.
- Turn off the water while you brush your teeth.
Kitchen and Laundry
- Reduce usage by installing aerating, low-flow faucets throughout your home.
- While waiting for hot water to reach faucets, catch the cold water in a watering can to use on plants.
- When hand washing dishes, use the least amount of detergent possible to minimize rinse water. Also, don't leave water running for rinsing.
- Don't let the faucet run while cleaning vegetables; rinse them in a filled sink or pan then reuse the water for plants.
- Place your garbage in compost instead of running it through your garbage disposal.
- Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator to avoid the wasteful habit of running tap water to cool it for drinking.
- If possible, replace older washing machines; newer ones use 35-50% less water and 50% less energy per load.
- Run only full loads in your washing machine and dishwasher and save energy by air-drying dishes instead of using the drying cycle.
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OUTDOORS
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Most lawns in southwest Missouri only require 1 - 1 1/2 inches of water per week. Measure the amount provided naturally before you add more.
Irrigation Systems
Leaks in irrigation systems are a large source of wasting water; older systems can lose 50-75%.
- Inspect your system, sprinklers and drip sprayers, and fix leaks immediately.
- In times of shortages, water with a hose and set a kitchen timer as a reminder to change locations or turn it off.
- Water only when your lawn clearly needs it; early morning is by far the best time.
- Don't water on windy days.
- Install a rain sensor on your irrigation system to avoid watering your lawn during or immediately after rain.
- Choose a water-efficient drip sprinkler system for trees, shrubs and flowers. Watering at the roots is very effective, but be careful not to over water.
- Place mulch around trees and plants to slow evaporation.
Landscaping
Whether you are installing new landscaping or slowly changing your current one, select the right plants for your landscape design and irrigation system.
- Group plants with the same watering needs together to get the most out of your watering time.
- Reduce the amount of grass in your yard by adding shrubs, ground cover, rock, mulching, etc.
- Set lawn mower blades one notch higher; longer grass means less evaporation.
- Direct downspouts and other runoff toward shrubs and trees, or collect and use for plants.
- Aerate your lawn by punching holes about six inches apart so water will reach the roots rather than run off the surface.
- Fertilizers increase water consumption so apply only the minimum amount needed.
Miscellaneous
- Don't run the hose while washing your car; use a bucket of water and a quick hose rinse at the end.
- Teach your children to turn the faucets off tightly after each use.
- If you allow your children to play in the sprinklers, make sure it's only when you're watering the yard, and in an area where your lawn needs it the most.
- Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks.
- Install covers on pools and spas to lower evaporation and check for leaks around your pumps. When backwashing your pool, use the water on your landscaping.
Making simple adjustments to our water usage will result in significant savings. Remember, if each of our 80,000 residential and business customers saved just two gallons of water each day, that’s more than 1,000,000 gallons a week. Now imagine what we could save if everyone would participate in water conservation.
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