City Services
Public Works & Utility Department
Water Conservation Tips
Outdoors:
- Do not fill swimming or wading pools. Use a pool cover to minimize water evaporation. Check for leaks in walls, filtration system and inlets; repair as needed.
- Water your lawn only when needed. Water at night or early morning to avoid evaporation. Try to water your lawn only, not the streets and sidewalks. Used cleaning water and pool water are fine for watering lawn and gardens.
- Landscape your lawn with plants that require little water.
- Do not wash down outside areas such as sidewalks, patios, driveways, etc. Use a broom, rake or leaf blower.
- Limit vehicle washing. Use a pail or bucket of water to wash cars, rinse quickly with hose. Dirty water can be used for chrome, hubcaps and wheels.
Indoors:
- Take shorter showers and shallower baths. Turn off the shower while soaping up. Saves about 25 gallons.
- Turn off faucets while brushing teeth, washing, shaving, etc. Saves about 5 gallons per day.
- Adjust water level on your washing machine, if possible. Use full loads only, if not adjustable.
- Use your dishwasher only when it is full. Washing dishes by hand (don’t let the tap run!) saves about 25 gallons.
- Reduce the number of toilet flushes per day. Each flush uses about 5 gallons (2-3 if you have water-saving toilets).
- Limit use of water-cooled air conditioners.
- Avoid using a garbage disposal.
- Use sinks and tub stoppers to avoid wasting water.
- Thaw frozen food in your refrigerator rather than in water.
- Don’t let the tap run to cool water for drinking. Instead, keep a container of water in the refrigerator.
- Use a pail or basin when mopping, use a sponge mop instead of a string mop.
- Find and fix leaks in faucets and water-using appliances. Faucets can usually be fixed cheaply and quickly by replacing washers.
- Find and fix leaks in toilets, which can leak silently. The following method can be used to check for leaks: Place a drop of food coloring in the upper tank and don’t flush for 30 minutes. If color appears in the bowl, there is leakage.
- Adapt plumbing with flow-restriction or other water-saving devices. These are usually inexpensive and easy to install.
- Reduce water used per flush by installing toilet tank displacement inserts. A plastic jug may often be used as an alternative. DO NOT USE BRICKS – they disintegrate when soaked and the resulting grit hinders closing of the flap valve.
- Learn to read your water meter so you can judge how much water you use and the difference water conservation makes.