• Replace leaky faucets. One leaking faucet can waste approximately 4,000 gallons of water per month.
• Showers use three times less water than a bath. Install a low-flow showerhead, which will cut water use to 3 gallons a minute without affecting the flow.
• Turn off the water to brush teeth, shave and soap up in the shower. Filling the sink to shave uses only one gallon, while letting the water run can use 10 gallons per shave or more. Turning off the water when you brush your teeth can save four gallons of water each time.
• Repair leaks and drippy faucets:One leaky faucet can waste up to 4,000 gallons of water a month and run up your energy bill.
• Install faucet aerators: They can reduce water use up to 60 percent while maintaining a strong flow.
• Peel and clean veggies in a large bowl of water instead of under the running tap.
• When hand-washing dishes, rinse them in a basin rather than under the tap. Run full-load dishwashers to save 15 gallons per load. When buying a new dishwasher, select one with a “light wash” option.
• Toilet displacement devices can save thousands of gallons of water a year. Put one to three weighted jugs in the tank, or use dams that hold back a reservoir of water during each flush. Don’t use bricks because they can chip and foul the flushing mechanism. When shopping for a new toilet, choose a low-flush model. These use less than one and a half gallons of water to flush, which saves more than 7,000 gallons of water per year, per person.
• Run full laundry loads only. When shopping for a new washer, buy a water-saving model.