What do you do to save water?

I have no grass. I have drippers on timers for the garden.

I'm in the process of installing an energy star dishwasher to save on hand washing.

 

I'd be a little squeemish on using recycled bath water. Um, there's probably some fecal in that water. No chance avoiding it.

I take other measures, however.

rain barrels
soaker hoses
native plantings
never water the remaining lawn
no pre rinsing of dishes
front load washer
no running water when brushing teeth
no running of water when showering
low flush toilets

We're down to about 40 gallons, per person, per day. We could probably get this down to 30 gallons but my husband thinks it's good to run the water when brushing his teeth so that the filtration plant clean it up and then return it to our watershed. At least that's the only rational explanation I can come up with for such an act.

 

Oh, forgot. I have a recycling washer. Have had it almost 20 years.


I've got no gutters so no rain barrel...yet. That's next in a few years.

 

low flow shower head and short showers (< 8min for me)
bricks in the toilet tanks
Don't water when it rains (duh)
Reduced watering in the back yard because it's a bloody jungle and doesn't need much
Don't run faucets anymore than necessary to get the job done

Future additions:
Get rid of the Kentucky blue grass and replace with something less thirsty. Reduce the size of the lawn and replace with beds that can grow shrubs or fruit (raspberrys/blackberrys)

 

Godiva,

Check around with you local municipalities or conservation districts to see if they have a program on rain barrels. The Met Water Rec District in Chicago has a program allowing purchases of rain barrels at $40 a pop. Cheap and at wholesale. The conservation district that I'm now a member of sells them for a little more than this. I found out about this after laying down over $100 per barrel. Only trouble you may encounter is that they'll probably have a limit of how many you're allowed to purchase.

 

Drought tolerant, genetically prostrate native plants (semiarid climate), bark mulch
Water meter (required by law, but not read by the City)
Low-flow (1.5 L) toilets
Low-flow shower heads
Cold water clothes washing
Dishwasher - only run when full
Large (20 x 20 m) vegetable garden on drip irrigation
Automatic sprinkler control (lawn in rear)
Sweep concrete (vs. hose off)

 

"Saving" water can also relate to permeable surfaces at least in accordance with my definition. I haven't integrated this but this is a top priority for my next house.

 

I know I can do more. Perhaps I should limit my water pressure at my house to what I have in my RV. I know my wife and I can go a full week on our RV with it's 125 gallon fresh water and still have plenty of water left when we get home. That includes showering every day and doing dishes the old fashioned way... knowing you have a limited supply in the RV forces you to be smart about useage.

 

I got a chuckle out of that one.

... Brad

 

I replaced my driveway with little concrete pillows with dicondra in between. Hopefully rain will soak in rather than run into the alley and down the storm drain.

 

I don't intentionally save water unless there's a water shortage, which is rare for New York City.

That said, all of my faucets and shower head are low flow and my toilet is low flush.

And when I wash my car in New York City, which I did earlier today, I use only 1 gallon of water for the 1 bucket method, or 2 gallons for the 2 bucket method. But this is only because I don't have access to a hose here.

 

Godiva,

I know! I remember this and have been meaning to ask of your experience, i.e. extra weed growth in the holes, any unexpected maintenance...that kind of stuff. We have the extra variable of cold and snow here but maybe your type of surface would hold up better than do conventional driveways due allowance of expansion and contraction with the areas in between.

Your water will surely soak in. The degree of soaking would probably be predicated on the volume of rain fall at any one time.

We visited an arboretum, just this last week, that has the parking area and drive areas with permeable hardscape and it was really pretty. It looked a little more contemporary than I like but I'm sure they have more rustic looking materials for this purpose. I haven't begun to research this yet 'cause I'm about a decade away of building our house but as I say, it's a top priority for me....especially seeing as that a tributary to an A rated creek runs through the downslope of our lot.

It would be really nice to have our rooftop water stored in a huge underground cistern but I've no idea of the costing of this type of system.

 

I use Lake Michigan water so there's no shortage for me either. But when I consider all the energy used to purify my water, all of the chemicals used in the purification process and the energy used to transport it to me coupled with the volume of gallons drawn from this water source by all others(one village alone cites the use of 9 millions of Lake Michigan water per day), it's a motivation for my reduction. My involvement in restoration allowed for a much deeper respect and regard for water than any of the aforementioned reasons and is certainly the main catalyst for my conservation practices. Displacement of water is never a good thing for the environment no matter how ample a water source may appear.

 

The dicondra is growing in nicely. I have to do a little irrigation repair. The tubing has risen on top of the bricks along the edge. I'll need to lift the bricks and bury it underneath. I had just tucked it beside the bricks but it worked it's way on top. I also need to lift a few of the sections to put more sand underneath as they've sunk due to heavy car on them when they're wet. But all in all I am very pleased. The dicondra is actually growing in better than I expected. In the places it's really taken hold it completely covers the little concrete pillows so it just looks green. This is the most, biggest 'green' I have in my yard. The rest of the property is just perimeter plantings of either roses, geraniums or vegetables around brick pathways and patios.

I do have to pull weeds, but it's not that bad.

My biggest problem is I have a neighbor that allows their dog to poop and pee on my driveway. I have to scoop their poop because they don't and where the dog pees the dicondra dies. I don't know who it is, but if I ever catch them I think I'll make them eat it.

This picture shows the brand new gate. I had to build a new one to replace the old as it wouldn't open and close anymore. As you can see, I still have some fence repairs to do yet.

My huge concrete bowl and big blue glazed pot were stolen, so here you see a cheap plastic bowl and a concrete "ashtray" being used as a flowerpot. All use drip on timers.

I think this would be great for where you are. Just make sure the contractors lay a proper foundation of compacted gravel, decomposed granite, etc. If it's installed properly (which mine was not) then it should be great. If you can't grow anything in between because of extremes in temperature, you can also put in pea gravel or something like that in contrast to the little concrete pillows to be decorative.

 

Good points! I could do more. I'll probably never re-use bath water. But I could still do more.

 

Reading this thread really struck me how much water I saved living in an apartment by myself. I used 6 gallons of water a day. 21 units (1 unit = 10 gal) for the 35 day billing period. This from the last bill I received at my old place for a full 35 day cycle. I never paid more than 10 bucks a month for water I think I averaged about $6.

Reusing a fork, plate, glass throughout the day when I'm home really cut down on the need to do a big load of dishes. Cooking a big meal and saving it in the fridge cut down on the need to wash a bunch of pots all the time. I flush religiously but I've managed to stop flushing for urine when i get out of bed at night to go. I don't shower every day (GASP!) I really don't feel or see the need for it for me personally. I oddly rarely sweat despite living in Houston (maybe I should see a doctor?). I have thick very curly prone to dry hair and it's actually recomended I don't wash it except for every 3 days - which I follow

 

Godiva,

You didn't have them lay the driveway that long ago and the contractor should have some sort of a maintenance period (usually 1 year) under which they're obligated to correct workmanship. Though I'm not sure this can be considered "defective" of "faulty", maybe that avenue is worth a try.

And I know how you feel about rude neighbors. I painted a wooden mailbox that we've had up for 4 years and as soon as I made it look "cute" a neighbor came along and smashed it with a bat or some other blunt object. It invoked such rage that they smashed one side of it only to come back HOURS later to finish it off. I can laugh now but I was on a kill mission for some time. I actually considered getting night vision video equipment on my house that feeds to our computer. It's not an expensive endeavor from what I've learned thus far. That's still open for consideration though my motivation is waning.

Looks like not much is going to grow where your tires are.

 

Nothing. We did buy a front load washer last year, which works well except that it removes less cat hair than did the old top loader (the hair now comes out in the dryer).

Someday I'll live in a condo and use a lot less water.

 

Are you sure your neighbor smashed it? Sounds like kids joyriding.

It was put in over a year ago. I did have them come back once to level the two areas that sunk. They used dirt which was what they used when they ran out of decomposed granite when they first put it in. I could have called them again but I'm not. I'd rather fix it myself and do it right. My new gate is better than anyone I could have hired because *I* did it.