Kitchen

• Scrape dishes clean instead of rinsing them before washing. There is no need to rinse dishes unless they are heavily soiled.
• Use a pan of water, or place a stopper in the sink, for washing and rinsing pots, pans, dishes, and cooking implements rather than turning on the water faucet each time a rinse is needed.
• Never run the dishwasher without a full load. This will save water, energy, detergent and money.
• Use the garbage disposal sparingly or start a compost pile.
• Keep a container of drinking water in the refrigerator. Running water from the tap until it is cool is wasteful. Better still, both water and energy can be saved by keeping cold water in a picnic jug on the kitchen counter to avoid opening the refrigerator door frequently.
• Use a small pan of cold water when cleaning fruits and vegetables rather than running water from the faucet over them.
• Use only a little water in the pot and put a lid on it for cooking most food. Not only does this method save water, but food is more nutritious since vitamins and minerals are not poured down the drain with the extra cooking water.
• Always keep water conservation in mind, and think of other ways to save in the kitchen. Small savings, like not making too much coffee, can add up in a year's time.

Bath

• Take a shower instead of taking a bath. Showers with low-flow shower heads often use less water than taking a bath.
• Reduce the level of the water being used in a bathtub by one or two inches if a shower is not available.
• Shampoo hair in the shower. Shampooing in the shower takes only a little more water than is used to shampoo hair during a bath and much less than shampooing and bathing separately.
• When building a new home or remodeling a bathroom, install a a low-flow shower head that limits the flow to less than 3 gallons per minute (gpm) and a new low-volume flush toilet which is required to use 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf) or less.
• When toilets cannot be replaced, consider displacing some of the water in the tank. Plastic bottles, such as clean, empty milk or chlorine jugs, can be filled with water and weighted down with a few stones and then placed in the most open portion of the tank. This will save as much water as is displaced by the bottle. Make sure the bottle does not interfere with the operation of the moving parts in the tank. Displacement devices should be checked periodically to insure that they remain in place. NOTE: Do not use bricks as a displacement device. They will erode and the particles can clog your drainage system.
• Test toilets for leaks and if leaks are discovered, repair them immediately.
• Never use the toilet to dispose of cleansing tissues, cigarette butts or other trash. This wastes a great deal of water and also places an unnecessary load on the municipal sewage treatment plant or your septic system.
• When brushing teeth, turn the water off until it is time to rinse.
• When shaving, fill the lavatory basin with warm water instead of letting the water run continuously.
• Install faucet aerators to reduce water consumption.

Laundry

• Traditional clothes washers use approximately 41 gallons per load (gpl), while high efficiency machines use only 23 gpl. Replace outdated machines whenever possible.
• Wash only a full load when using an automatic washing machine (32 to 59 gallons are required per load).
• Whenever possible, use the lowest water-level setting on the washing machine for light or partial loads.
• Use cold water as often as possible to save energy and to conserve the hot water for uses that cold water cannot serve.