How To Save Water Outside the Home

Using water outside your home is where some of our biggest water uses occur. Here are some tips on how to save:

  • Water your lawn only when needed. A good way to see if your lawn needs watering is to step on the grass. If it springs back up when you move, it's O.K. If it stays flat- get the sprinkler.
  • Deep soak the lawn. When you do water, do it long enough for the moisture to soak down to the roots where it will do the most good. A light sprinkling can evaporate quickly and tends to encourage shallow root systems.
  • Water during the cool parts of the day.Early morning generally is better than dusk since it helps prevent growth of fungus, yet it avoids the hot part of the day when most water evaporates.
  • Don't water the gutter. Position your sprinklers so water lands on the lawn or garden, not a paved area. Also avoid watering on windy days.
  • Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks.

Other tips on how to become water efficient can be found at: h2ouse.org

Water Use Statistics- Consumption and Conservation

  • Americans drink more than 1 billion glasses of tap water per day.
  • On average, 50 to 70 percent of home water is used outdoors for watering lawns and gardens.
  • Daily indoor per capita water use in the typical single family home with no water-conserving fixtures is 74 gallons. Here is how it breaks down:
  • Average household water use annually: 127,400 gallons
  • Average daily household water use : 350 gallons
  • Approximately 339,000 million gallons per day (mgd) of freshwater (about one quarter of the national renewable supply) was withdrawn during 1990 for use by the nation's homes, farms, and industries, and about 220 billion gallons per day was returned to streams after use. The withdrawals during 1990 were about 7 percent less than during 1980, the maximum year reported, and about the same as during 1985. Some reasons for the decline are because of active conservation programs, new technologies requiring less water, higher costs to obtain water, and the enhanced awareness by the general public to water resources. (USGS).

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