We all know that with summer looming in the not so distance future, increased temperatures and humidity will also be showing their not so welcome faces. We also know that these increased temperatures often mean an increase in our electricity bills. While there may be no compromise to running those air conditioners all day long just to make staying inside bearable, there are ways to cut down on some other bills that will have little to no effect on your daily routine or living habits. One valuable resource that we overuse immensely, often times without even realizing it, is our water. Below are some helpful hints on how to decrease your water consumption and thus also decreasing your water bill. Some of these may seem common sense oriented, but many would be surprised at just how many wasteful habits we inherently have when it comes to water use.
If you’re paying for all the water that comes out of your faucets, make sure you’re using all of it. If you paid to fill your tank up at the gas station, but only received 75% of the gasoline you purchased, you’d obviously be upset. You should feel the same way when it comes to the water you’re purchasing. Although it seems minimal, if you practice the following habits daily, you can save hundreds of gallons of water each month:
- Washing your hands after using the bathroom? Put soap on your hands prior to turning on the faucet.
- Time to get rid of that 5 o’clock shadow? Don’t run the water throughout the duration of shaving. The same goes for brushing your teeth.
- Nothing beats an ice cold glass of water. So actually add ice instead of running water until its cold. Another alternative is to fill a pitcher and place it in the fridge.
- Have some nice filets to cook but need them to thaw? Try thawing them in the fridge overnight versus running water over them. Thawing them in the fridge does not use any water while running water on them uses… well, a lot.
- What’s worse than having to wash dishes? Having to pay to wash dishes. Running your faucet the duration of washing your dishes can waste up to 14 gallons of water each time. Fill up your sink with warm water and wash them out of there to keep chore costs down.
- Or, are you using a dishwasher? Try scraping any food residue off of the plates instead of rinsing them in the sink. That’s kind of the whole purpose of the washing machine…
- Speaking of dishwashers, try to only run them to wash full loads. Unless you only own one plate and glass to drink from, you surely can get by with letting the machine fill up before using it.
- On a similar note, did you know that 22% of in-home water use stems from washing machines? Yikes! For those of you who didn’t know this, “it’s laundry day” was never more of a viable excuse to wear sweatpants in public. Cut that 22% down by only washing full loads of clothes.
- Baths are great, but the average tub takes almost 70 gallons to fill. A candle lit shower is a bit awkward, but definitely the more cost effective of two.
Have you ever bought something online and opted not to purchase the delivery insurance that comes with it and 3 weeks later you still haven’t received your package because the post office “lost it”? Paying for things and not receiving them is the worst, and this is exactly how leaks in your water line work. Leaks can really drive your water bill up, so be sure to check for them periodically to ensure you’re paying for what you’re actually getting. Here are some tips on how to gauge if you have a leak:
- Before you go to work in the morning, write down the reading on your water meter. When you come back from work later that day, assuming no one was home to use water, the reading should match what it was before you left. If this is not the case, you most likely have a leak.
- It can be difficult to tell if your toilet has a leak. One way to check if the tank is leaking is to add some dye and check back in a half hour. If the dye has made its way onto your floor or in the bowl, there’s a leak there that needs to be addressed.
If you discover you have a leak, it’s important to contact a professional, preferably Resolve Trenchless of course, to come out and fix it. Tampering with it yourself or letting it go without service can lead to even bigger issues down the road. Enjoy your summer and the extra bucks you’re going to save on your water bill now that you’ve eliminated some of those wasteful habits we all engage in without realizing.