What Can Be Done to Save Water at Home? – Ways to Reduce Water Consumption

Our old world is now having a hard time withstanding the ruthless consumption of human resources. Global warming, climate change, we are facing a serious water crisis. individually water saving at home We have a chance to slow down the rate of depletion of fresh water resources by taking the measures we will take. at home reduce water consumption I would love for you to consider the suggestions I will make for you as suggestions that you will apply throughout your life, not just short-term suggestions for today's thirst.

Photo by Yoann Boyer on Unsplash

It is always on my agenda to use our natural resources efficiently and to do the least harm to nature while benefiting from it. I wanted to share my sensitivity on this issue with you, and in this article, I wanted to share my own methods of saving water.

A Brief About Water Resources and Water Expenditures

First of all, I would like to give a little information about the water resources in the world. The water in our old world;

• 97% is sea water,
• 2,1% is ice,
• 0,6% is groundwater,
• 0,1% is made up of lakes, streams and atmospheric water vapor.

In other words, only 3% of the water in our world can be used as a fresh and clean water source.

Scientists say that by 2030 40% of the world's population will suffer from water shortage. This is a very serious and frightening rate. The measures we will take individually are very critical to prevent water shortages.

A person needs at least 75 liters of water a day to meet basic needs. However, this figure could go up to 350 liters per person. The average amount of water flowing from our faucet per minute is 10 liters. Remember, the longer you leave the water on, the more water you waste. It is up to you to reduce or increase the amount of water you use. Controlling your water consumption will also positively affect your water bill, thus contributing to your household economy.

If you haven't watched the 25 Liter documentary prepared by National Geographic, you should definitely watch it. 25 Liter documentary; While revealing a possible water shortage that may occur, it tells how we can change this situation with the measures we can take today.

35% of our daily water consumption is used for bathroom, 30% for toilet, 20% for laundry and dishwashing, 10% for cooking and drinking water and 5% for cleaning. Therefore, my suggestions will be in parallel with this weight.

What Can Be Done to Save Water at Home?

Photo by mrjn photography on Unsplash

In the 2020-2021 period, when the clean water resources in our country fell to the lowest levels in recent years, thirst came back to our agenda. There are many ways to reduce our daily water consumption and to conserve water at home. I have listed my suggestions below, which are mostly practical suggestions that I have not applied myself.

Reduce Your Shower/Bath Frequency

According to the Environmental Protection Agency EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) data, a person spends an average of 150 liters of water in the shower. If you have a habit of taking a shower every day, or if you have a habit of showering in the morning/evening, you can start by reducing the frequency of it. If you are not someone who sweats a lot, taking a shower every other day will do the trick. Thus, you will save 150 liters of water per shower. It will not be very difficult to implement this recommendation, especially during the pandemic period when we spend most of our time at home.

I don't know if anyone still fills a tub and takes a bath in it, but don't. You'll have wasted all the water that filled the tub.

Shorten Your Shower Time

Taking a bath instead of scrubbing and shampooing more than once also significantly reduces water consumption. Turning off the fountain instead of leaving it on while scrubbing or soaping will also save water.

If you are one of those who turn on the fountain and wait for the water to warm up when you take a shower, put a bucket under the fountain to prevent the clean water flowing from being wasted. Since this water is clean, you can use it for all your household needs.

Use Energy Saving or Sensored Shower and Fountain Heads

This recommendation is valid for all water flowing areas in your home. It is said that the amount of water you use will decrease significantly (around 25%) if the heads of the shower head, bathroom and kitchen fountains are economical heads. Using sensor heads can be another option, you can also create a mechanism so that the fountain will flow when you put your hand under the water.

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality also announced in December 2020 that it would start distributing energy-saving faucets to households. It will be started from households with high water consumption. You can make your own changes without waiting for the municipality, we have been using cost-effective caps for years.

If You Have Fountains That Are Leaking or Dripping, Have them Repaired Immediately

Our ancestors did not say for nothing that it would become a lake drop by drop. If you have leaking or dripping fountains or valves, have them repaired as soon as possible. That dripping water can dry up a lake. In addition, these wasted waters can open a hole in your budget.

Do Not Leave the Fountain Open While Washing Your Hands or Brushing Your Teeth

Believe me, I am ashamed to write this recommendation. While it is talked about the climate crisis, the water crisis, the water used in drinking and households is decreasing day by day, I do not understand the ruthless waste of water. When brushing your teeth or washing your hands, make sure that the water does not run in vain. I am aware that we wash our hands much more than normal time, especially during the pandemic period, but there is no need to keep the fountain open while doing this.

Change Your Dish Washing Habits

Every time you run the dishwasher, you spend an average of 20 liters of water. Therefore, do not run your dishwasher before it is full.

• Do not think about how much water the dishwasher consumes, because the amount of water used is much more when you wash dishes by hand, and washing your dishes in the machine rather than by hand saves you both water and detergent.
• As for the issue of doing dishes, let's try not to increase the number of dishes these days when we spend most of our time at home. You can use the same water glass or coffee glass all day, for example, using a new glass each time increases the number of dishes as much as the amount of water and coffee you drink per day. You can spend the day with a single cup of coffee and a single glass of water.
• Rinsing your dishes under the tap after meals is a serious waste of water. Clean your dishes with the fork, knife and spoon you use as much as possible. If you used paper napkins at the table, scrape them off with used napkins. Apart from these, you can place it in your machine with the dishwashing condition, dishwashers and detergents have advanced a lot now, even if you leave the dishes, they will clean your utensils.
• Another issue is to use your machine's short programs. I wash almost all of my dishes on the short program and we haven't died of scum so far. I don't understand what a machine can wash in 3 hours. Therefore, if your dishwasher has a short program, be sure to use it, otherwise make sure it has a short program when buying your next dishwasher.

A very dear friend of mine put a one-liter bottle inside while washing the dishwasher, in order to use the water in the bottle filled at the end of the dish for cleaning purposes. You can find creative solutions like this.

Change Your Laundry Habits, Too

Your washing machine consumes approximately 40 liters of water in each operation. Remember that every drop of this water is precious.

• Wash your rarely worn clothes on the short program or just rinse them. Unfortunately, most of us wash clothes that we put on and take off once. How dirty can a t-shirt we wear once be?
• The colder you wash your laundry, the less energy and therefore water you will spend. For this reason, wash your clothes at low temperatures, not high temperatures.
• As with the dishwasher, do not run the washing machine in an empty state before it is fully loaded. Whether it is 3 pieces or 20 pieces, your machine is wasting that 40 liters. The more items you wash at once, the more profitable you are.
• Short program, short program, short program… How dirty can our clothes be in city life? I wash almost all of our clothes in short programs. Instead of 2-2.5 hours, they are washed in 25-35 minutes. So I use almost 5 times less water.

Make sure that all your home appliances are energy-efficient and low-water consuming models.

Change Your Water Usage Habits in the Kitchen

The kitchen is one of the areas where we use water the most, knowingly or unknowingly. I want you to do a simple test to show you that small measures we take in the kitchen can make a big difference. When washing fruit or vegetables, put a bowl or bucket in your sink and see how much water you use during this process. This water you spend directly meets the waste water drain and cannot be used again. In particular, you can reuse washing water such as fruit and vegetables, which do not contain detergent, soap, oily waste, etc., in many areas of your home. Cleaning water, irrigation water for flowers, balcony washing water, toilet cleaning water, etc. We can extend this list further.

Boil your eggs in an egg machine, not in water. Although it may seem like a very small amount, if you live in a house where eggs are boiled every day like us, you will save a cup of water every day. If you do not have a machine, you can use the same egg water for a few days, and use it in places where you need hot water after removing the boiled eggs.

Instead of boiling the vegetables with a large amount of water in a pot, you can prefer steaming methods. When putting the boiling water, remember how precious each drop is, add at least the amount of water you will need.

Recognize and Reuse Gray Water

The waste state of the water we use in the sink, bath and shower is called gray water. There are different ways to use this gray water. We can use the gray water containing detergent and soap residue, which we use in the bathroom and kitchen, in our toilets, balconies and car washes.

Reduce Your Siphon Water

You waste about 6 liters of water each time you flush. If you think that the dishwasher consumes 20 liters, when you compare the two, the siphon consumes a lot of water.

• The first way to reduce siphon water is to use economical, two-stage siphons. However, if you already have a siphon system and you do not want to change it, you can fill and put a plastic bottle in the reservoir where the siphon water is. Thus, the siphon will not be complete every time, and it will consume as little water as the area occupied by the plastic bottle.
• Another way is to use the gray water or washing water I just mentioned to clean the toilet. If the structure of your bathroom is suitable, you can set up a mechanism to spend the water of your washing machine or dishwasher here. Otherwise, you can use the used water you have stored for cleaning the toilet.
• Be sure to check whether your siphon is leaking water. Siphon is one of the places with the most water leaks and malfunctions in the house, and every malfunction means wasted water.
• Throw materials such as toilet paper into the trash, not the toilet. You may have to use extra water to get rid of such materials.

Reduce Electricity and Clothing Consumption

Every product produced uses water during every energy production. Everything you can think of, from electricity to sweaters, needs water during production. For this reason, the more economically and carefully we use all these, we contribute to reducing water consumption. Reducing your electricity usage, turning off unnecessary burning lamps, reducing the use of all kinds of packaged products is a step towards water saving. Don't say what would happen if I did it alone, if everyone took certain steps in their own home, we could make a very serious difference in total.

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Alternative methods such as reducing our carbon footprint, walking or cycling instead of driving are also methods that indirectly reduce water consumption. If you are still driving, wiping your car instead of washing it with plenty of water saves a lot of water. We even wipe the ready vehicle after the rain while it is damp, it is much easier to clean.

which will reduce your carbon footprint What is an electric scooter and how is it used? Check out my post too.

Segregate, Recycle Your Garbage

Another thing you can easily do at home is to separate your garbage. your garbage at home; you can separate them as paper, glass, plastic and organic garbage and leave your paper, glass and plastic garbage in the piggy bank if you have it nearby, or in the headman's office.

You Raised Awareness Around Water Savings

If you have friends, colleagues, or neighbors who you notice are using too much water, politely inform them as well. I had goosebumps recently when I ran into a neighbor who was washing up on the parking lot and the street in front of his house. You can start raising awareness about water saving by sharing this article.