Eastern Municipal Water District has many FREE brochures on conservation
and landscaping available in the Administrative Center. Click here for directions.
20 Water Conservation Tips
If you have a lawn, chances are it’s your biggest water user. At least 50% or more of the water consumed by households is used outdoors. Inside your home, bathroom facilities claim nearly 75% of the water used.
Little leaks add up in a hurry. A faucet that drips only two tablespoons a minute comes to about 15 gallons of water a day. That’s 5,460 wasted gallons of water a year.
Test your toilets for leaks about every 3 to 6 months by putting 10 drops of food coloring (blue works well) in the tank. Don’t flush for 15 minutes. If the colored water shows up in the bowl, the tank is leaking.
A silent toilet leak can waste 40 to 60 gallons of water per day. A toilet that runs can use as much as 3 to 5 gallons of water per minute -- this can mean a water waste of up to 300 gallons of water per hour and a High Water Bill.
Never let the water run when brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your face
When you clean your fish tank, use the dirty water to water your house plants. This water is rich in nitrogen and phosphorous, which is a great fertilizer.
Hard to know if your lawn needs water? Here’s two signs that it may be time to water -- When you walk on your grass do you leave your footprints or has your grass turned a dull gray-green color?
Want to know the best way to give your lawn a good drink of water? DEEP SOAK IT! Try watering multiple start times, all between midnight and 6 a.m. This will allow water to percolate deep into the soil, allow you to water less frequently, establish a deeper root system and avoid quicker evaporation.
Automatic sprinklers don’t mean - NO MAINTENANCE! Check your sprinkler heads periodically for broken, misdirected, tilted, plugged or blocked heads. All of these situations will usually cause dry spots in your lawn.
Adjusting your lawn mower to a higher setting during the summer allows the grass blades to grow longer and shade one another, as well as the ground. This helps the ground retain moisture and fight off the heat.
Mulch all exposed planting areas. This discourages weeds, helps hold moisture in the soil, keeps the ground from overheating and makes your planters and garden look great.
Is your swimming pool covered? An average-size swimming pool loses approximately 1,000 gallons of water per month from evaporation, wind and sun exposure. A pool that is covered can save up to 90% of water loss.
Need to wash your car? Use a bucket or hose with an on/off nozzle attachment. Don’t just let the water run down the street and waste good drinking water.
Only run your washing machine and dishwasher with full loads.
Do not hose down sidewalks or driveways; use a broom
Convert gardens & planters with single root shrubs over to drip irrigation. You will save hundreds of gallons of water and your plants will be healthier.
Don’t use your toilet as a trash can. At 1.6 to 7 gallons per flush, this makes for a pretty expensive and wasteful disposal system.
Make sure you have a low-flow shower head installed -- 2.5 gallons per minute or less. This saves hundreds of gallons per month.
You can get a free low-flow shower head at EMWD Headquarters between the hours of 8 a.m. & 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Sorry, EMWD cannot mail these to you.
