Indoors

• Install a faucet aerator with flow restrictor on every household faucet and showerhead.

• Check all plumbing for leaks, including your toilet.

• Flush your toilet only when necessary—i.e. not to dispose of tissue and other small bathroom waste.

• Use only the water you need; letting the faucet run when you’re brushing your teeth, shaving, washing fruits and vegetables, and doing dishes is a big water waster.

• Cut down on shower time; five to ten gallons go down the drain every minute.

• Run dishwasher and washing machines only when you have full loads to wash.

Outdoors

• Plan and create a landscape that uses water efficiently such as by creating rain gardens or planting drought-resistant plants in your yard.

• Make soil improvements and use mulches.

• Install a water-efficient irrigation system; using an evapotranspiration controller or installing subsurface irrigation (for more about subsurface irrigation, see this issue’s feature on the topic on page 28) are two good ways to help cut back on water usage.

• Reduce turf areas, and avoid turf on slopes.

• Use water-efficient plants and group together plants with similar water needs.

• Properly maintain your yard and be sure your watering system is in good working order.

• Harvest rainwater for your landscape by diverting it off your roof and impervious surfaces into containers or your landscape instead of letting it flow into gutters.

GREEN NOTE

To check for a leak in your toilet, put a little food coloring in your toilet tank. If, without flushing, the coloring begins to appear in the bowl, you have a leak. Replace the flapper valve, adjust or replace the flush valve, or call a plumber.