15 Ways to Conserve Water Outside and Inside!

A BIG thanks to Scotts® EveryDrop™ for sponsoring today’s post! 

Ways to Conserve Water

On the hunt for some easy Ways to Conserve Water?

Whether you’re living in an area with plenty of beautiful sunshine… and maybe not quite enough rain, or you just want to cut back on your water bill, check out these easy tips and tricks to conserve water!!

Living in beautiful sunny California, I’ve had to learn all sorts of tips and tricks for cutting back on water during the current drought.

Following are 15 simple ways to conserve water, that should make a big impact on your water usage… and bill! 🙂

Ways to Conserve Water Outside

Use Scotts® EveryDrop™ on Lawn and Landscapes.

To keep your grass green with less water (grass is considered one of the top water users in a home).

EveryDrop™ is an awesome new product to help residents reduce water use in lawns and landscapes!

Being that it’s a blend of wetting agents, we use it on our lawn as a simple way to move more water into the soil, avoid runoff, and make the most of the water we have available to use.

For best results, apply weekly starting in late Spring through the early Fall.

Plant drought-resistant plants and shrubs in your Garden.

If designing your yard from scratch, take into account how much water the plants you’re planting will require.

Or… swap out high-water usage plants currently in your yard with drought-resistant alternatives.  Don’t forget to fertilize!  Use Scotts® or Miracle-Gro® to make sure plants are fed with the nutrients they need.

The more well-fed a lawn and plants are, the more efficient they are at using water!

Check landscape watering system for leaks.

Periodically take a few minutes to turn on your sprinklers or drip systems, and just walk around the yard… checking for leaks or punctures.

Check outdoor hoses and faucets for leaks.

You may not notice at first if your hose or outdoor faucet springs a little leak or simply has a slow drip.

Walk around the house and check for leaks that need fixing.

Water your yard in the early morning

Set your sprinkler timers to water before the sun comes up.  This will really help to minimize evaporation.

Mow your grass higher

Simply change the level on your lawn mower up a notch, and keep the grass a little longer when mowing.  This will help your grass retain more water.

Use mulch like bark or ground cover like gravel

This will help to keep moisture in the soil and reduce evaporation.

(and yes… this is the unbelievably large load of bark my hubby and boys just spread out all around our yard last week.  Whew!)

Adjust your sprinklers

Sometimes sprinklers can spray wide, and that means your sidewalks and driveways are getting a nice watering, too!

Since I’m sure they won’t mind… simply adjust your sprinklers in to keep the watering on landscapes and lawns that actually appreciate it even more. 🙂

Ways to Conserve Water Inside

Use Low Flow Shower Heads

We swapped out the shower heads in each shower of our home with special low flow shower heads found at the local hardware store.

Time your showers

Though long hot showers can be relaxing, we’ve made a significant effort to cut the time of showers way back.

For the kids… we purchased kitchen timers so they can have a little ringing reminder of when the time is up. 🙂

Turn faucets off when brushing teeth

This is a simple tip… but every little bit helps!

Keep a Pitcher of Filtered Water in the refrigerator

That will avoid having to run extra water while waiting for it to turn cold.

Replace worn out appliances with new energy-star water efficient appliances

We’ve done this with both our dishwasher and washing machine, and it’s made a huge impact!

Fix any dripping faucets in the bathrooms or kitchen

Not only can a dripping faucet drive you close to insanity, but it also can be another way you might be losing water and increasing your water bill.

Walk around the house and check all bathroom sinks and the kitchen sink to ensure there are no leaks.  If you find any, simply fix them.

Monitor your water meter and pay attention to what water-usage activities you can cut back on

I can honestly say that we never really paid attention to our water meter before we were on water restrictions during this drought.

Now, however… it’s something we check once a week.  It helps us keep on track and make sure we’re not going over our allotted amount of water.

Thank you again to Scotts® EveryDrop™ for sponsoring this post! Happy water conserving!