One of the simplest ways to be more environmentally-friendly at home and save money on utility bills is conserving water. There is lots of room for improvement in this area in the average American household, which uses 200 gallons of water daily, according to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, or VDEQ. When striving to save water, don't overlook the shower. On average, showers account for 16 percent of household water usage, totaling 37,000 gallons annually, notes VDEQ.
Take Shorter Showers
Obviously the most basic way to conserve water in the shower is to reduce the time spent in the shower. An average shower lasts eight minutes and uses 17 gallons of water, says VDEQ. That means just one person taking daily showers in your house accounts for a little more than 6,200 gallons of water a year. An efficient shower should take only three to four minutes, VDEQ points out, and will use only seven to eight gallons of water. This can mean saving almost 300 gallons of water a month with daily showers.
Other Ways to Cut Down on Water Run Time
With the average shower head releasing more than 2 gallons of water per minute, according to VDEQ, running the water even a minute or two less each day can add up to significant water savings over time--between roughly 700 and 1,500 gallons a year.
Make sure that your water heater is properly insulated, and have your pipes insulated as well, as American Water and Energy Savers, or AWES, suggests. This will provide hotter water in the shower more quickly, requiring less run time before you get in.
Consumer Reports reminds you turn off the water while lathering your hair and body. Shaving with a sink full of water rather than in the shower requires less running water as well.
Also, make use of the water you must run but aren't showering in, as when you're waiting for it to get hot enough. You can brush your teeth with it, as AWES suggests, or catch it in a bucket for use elsewhere, like for watering plants, as the Water Use It Wisely site recommends.
Other Wats to Cut Down on Water Quantity
When you need to make the shower water hotter, do so by decreasing the cold water flow rather than by increasing the hot water flow, suggests AWES. Also, repair any drips. The water escaping through a leaky shower head may not look like much, but at the rate of one water drop per second, a leaking shower head can waste up to 2,700 gallons of water a year, notes AWES.
Also, low flow shower heads are an effective way to save water. If your shower head can release a gallon of water into a bucket in 20 seconds, it is an inefficient model, explains Water Use It Wisely. A gallon in about 30 seconds makes it an average model, based on VDEQ's statistics. Switching to a low-flow shower head saves an estimated 750 gallons of water monthly, according to Water Use It Wisely.
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