Ways To Conserve Water

Some Ways To Conserve Water
We all know the ways to conserve water around the house. They have been taught to us since we were children. But, how many of us really put them into good use. The simple ones are easy to do and keep up on right, like turn off the water when you brush your teeth that's pretty simple to remember and do. What are some other ways that are not so simple and some ways that make it easier to remember? First of all do you have an old fashioned toilet?
How To Save Water With Your Toilet
If you have an old fashioned toilet you know that every time you flush it takes about 5 gallons of water to flush the toilet. Newer models it only takes about 1.6 gallons per flush. Big difference right. Well, how many times do you flush the toilet per day? Now, how many times does your family flush the toilet per day? You could spring for a modern toilet but that is very expensive. Another option is to simply place a brick in your toilet tank and see if your toilet still flushes normally. If your toilet still flushes normally place another brick and so on. Basically what the brick does is displace water in your toilet tank so it fills up faster and flushes less water with each flush. You won't get down to 1.6 gallons per flush like a high efficiency toilet but your toilet wasnt' made to flush with such a little amount of water. Another way to save water with your toilet is to test to see if your toilet valve is leaking.
Check Your Toilet Flapper Valve For Leaks
One way you can be using a lot of water with your toilet without even knowing it is with a leaking flapper valve in your toilet. What is the flapper valve. Take off the back of the toilet. Push the flush lever do you see the rubber valve connected to the end of that chain at the bottom of the toilet tank? That rubber stopper looking thing is your toilet flapper valve. The way to see if it's leaking is to put some food coloring in the back of the toilet tank and see if it appears in the toilet bowl. If it doesn't then no problem your flapper valve does not leak at all. If food coloring does appear in the toilet tank then you need to replace the flapper valve on your toilet. Don't worry it's a very simple procedure. Flush the toilet and turn off the water. Don't worry it's clean water so you won't get dirty. Now disconnect the chain from the flusher handle and disconnect the flapper valve from the plastic tube in the middle of the toilet and remove the flapper valve. Buy the correct flapper valve and replace it the same way you removed it. Congratulations.
How Your Kids Can Save Water In The Tub
Kids love taking a bath and they love filling the tub to the brim with water and that can be 50 or 60 gallons of water. If it's a large soaking tub it can be a lot more than that. So one way I have found to keep the water use down for baths with small children is to put a sticker of some animal they like at the level of water I want them to use most times. So basically when the water gets up to the starfish or the turtle shut it off. But, once in awhile you can let them fill it up and just enjoy it. Hey, kids need to be kids too right.