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How do I reduce my water bill?

You can reduce your water bill by taking the following steps:

• Reduce water use in your home. Take showers, not baths. Don’t let faucets run while you wash, brush or shave. Use a dishwasher rather than hand dishwashing.
• Reduce water use outdoors. Water plants less often and more deeply. Plant drought-tolerant varieties. Raise your lawnmower blades to leave your grass longer. Avoid using power washers and hoses.
• Reduce wasted water. Check your home regularly for leaks. Fix that dripping faucet or toilet. Don’t use your toilet to flush things that can go in the trash.
• Recycle water. Collect water in a bowl in your sink and use it to water your plants or start your next dishwashing bowl.
• Reduce your appliance water usage. Only run your dishwasher and washing machine on a full load and economy mode.
• Reduce water use in a swimming pool. Install a water leveler and collect rainfall. Inspect for leaks. Limit back washing of filters. Use a cover to reduce evaporation.
• Invest to reduce your monthly water cost. Install low-flow shower heads, low-flow faucets and low-flush toilets. Upgrade to WaterSense or Energy Star appliances. Replace regular sprinklers with soaker hoses or drip irrigation.

Reduce water use in your home

You can reduce your water bill considerably by reducing the amount of water you use in your home every day.

Four steps you can take immediately to reduce your water use:

• Take short showers rather than baths. Showers usually consume less water than in a bath. A shower is even better if you have a low-flow showerhead.
• Avoid running water straight into the sink drain. Instead, fill a bowl with only what you need. Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth and washing or shaving your face.
• If you own a dishwasher, using it on a full load uses less water than hand washing that same load.
• Put plastic bottles filled with sand or stones in your toilet tank to reduce the water used for each flush. Just ensure they don’t interfere with the valves and floats working.

Reduce water use outdoors

The water you use in your garden/yard can be less.

Some options you can try to reduce your water use:

• Water lawns and flower beds less often and more deeply. It encourages plants and bushes to develop deeper roots, making them more tolerant of dry periods.
• Watering in the early morning is the best time to water. The lower temperatures and wind help reduce evaporation before the water has soaked in. Do not water lawns and flower beds when it has recently rained.
• If you live in a hot or dry area, try drought-tolerant planting. Good quality local nurseries will have native plants appropriate for your area and tolerant of the local amount of rain you get.
• Use a brush or a leaf blower rather than a hose or power washer to clean paths and driveways. Power washers are particularly excessive water users.
• Raise your lawn mower blade to leave the grass cut longer. It will help hold moisture in your lawn.
• Use a flow-limiting nozzle for your hose rather than the full water flow.
• Collect rainwater and use it for watering your plants.

Reduce wasted water

Sometimes, we waste water without even knowing it.

Here are some things to check:

• Check your home regularly for leaks. A good way to do this? When you know you are not using water, read and note your water meter reading. Then, check the reading after a few hours to see if it changes.
• Fix that dripping faucet or leaking toilet. Getting someone out to do the repairs might cost, but it will be cheaper in the long run.
• Store cold drinking water in the refrigerator rather than running a faucet until you get cold water.
• Don't defrost items pulled from the freezer using faucet water. Instead, defrost in the fridge or microwave.
• Tissues, pads, liners, wipes and dental floss should go in the trash, not the toilet. Flushing the toilet to dispose of these items is a waste of water. They can also block your waste pipes, which can be expensive to fix.

Recycle water

• Keep a bowl in your sink to collect clean water that would have gone down the drain. Use this water to water your plants or to start your next dishwashing bowl.
• Recycle fish tank water to water your plants. It also contains natural fertilizer.

Reduce your appliance water usage

Many appliances have ways to use less water.

Try using these:

• Run your clothes washer only when full and in economy mode. Pick the right water level setting (load size) if you cannot run a full load. Heavy load and soil settings usually consume more water, so pick the right load and soil setting before starting each load.
• Run your dishwasher only when full and in economy mode. Dishwashers often have an eco or economy mode that uses less energy and water to clean each load. You can also reduce water use by not rinsing dishes before dishwashing. Rinsing dishes with a running faucet is particularly wasteful of both water and energy.

Reduce water use in a swimming pool

Pools contain a lot of water and can be wasteful.

Pay attention to the following:

• Have your pool inspected for leaks. The reduced water consumption cost often covers the cost of fixing leaks.
• An easy way to check for leaks,
  • Set a large container on your pool steps and fill it to the same level as your pool.
  • Check back in a week to see if the pool level drops more than the level inside the container.
  • Note: This won’t work if you already have a pool leveler.
• Minimize how long you backwash your pool filter. This process can waste large amounts of water.
• Install a pool leveler. It works like the float valve that keeps your toilet tank full. If you set it an inch below the overflow level, you can take advantage of any rainfall.
• Use a pool cover to reduce the water that evaporates from your pool.

There are more details in our Pool Running Cost Optimization article.

Try our free Pool Calculator to optimize your pool setup.

Invest to reduce your monthly water cost

As technology improves, there are always new things that you can do to make your home more energy efficient.

Here are a few to consider with various levels of investment:

• Install a low-flow shower head to reduce water use further.
• Install low-flow faucets, which reduce water consumption.
• Install a low-flush toilet. A lower-cost alternative is to buy tank inserts that reduce the water in the tank for each flush.
• Choose products with WaterSense labels. They use up to 20% less water than standard products.
• Update appliances to new Energy Star-rated appliances. They can use 15-20% less water.
• Install a dishwasher rather than hand washing your dishes. Modern dishwashers are very water efficient. Hand washing the same dishes can use 5-10 times as much water.
• Replace regular sprinklers with soaker hoses or drip irrigation. Drip irrigation is particularly effective at keeping your plant pots and small raised beds appropriately watered. You can adjust the water given to each flower pot and bed.
• Install an instant water heater rather than running a faucet until you get hot water.

Further Reading

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