Indoor Conservation Tips

• Make sure you know where your master water shut-off valve is located.  This could save hundreds of gallons of water and damage to your home if a pipe were to burst.

• Install a low-flow toilet that uses 1.6 gallons or less of water per flush, or a high-efficiency toilet that uses no more than 1.28 gallons per flush. To learn about the rebates the District offers for residential customers interested in upgrading appliances, read more.

• If your toilet was installed prior to 1980, use a toilet tank water displacement device such as a toilet dam or bag.  Also, a plastic bottle can be filled with stones or with water, recapped, and placed in the toilet tank.  These devices will reduce the volume of water in the tank but will still provide enough for flushing. (Bricks are not recommended as they eventually crumble and can damage the flushing mechanism.)  Displacement devices are not recommended for use with newer low-flow toilets.

• Test toilets for leaks.  Add a few drops of food coloring or a dye tablet to the water in the toilet tank, but do not flush the toilet.  Wait a few minutes to see if the coloring appears in the bowl.  If so, the toilet has a silent leak that needs to be repaired.  This can save you more than 600 gallons a month.

• Make sure your toilet flapper doesn't stick open after flushing.

• Never use the toilet as a trash can to dispose of bugs, cigarette butts, or other items.  Unnecessary flushing wastes water and places an unnecessary burden on sewage treatment plants and septic tanks.

• Shorten your showers.  Even a one or two minute reduction can make a difference.  Keep your shower less than 5 minutes and you can save up to 1000 gallons of water a month.

• Turning the water off while you shampoo and condition your hair can save you more than 50 gallons a week.  

• Keep a bucket in the shower to catch water as it warms up or runs.  Use this water to flush toilets or water house plants.   

• Install a low-flow shower head that restricts the flow of water from the shower to 2.5 gallons per minute.  They are inexpensive, easy to install, and can save your family more than 500 gallons a week.  

• Plug the bathtub before turning the water on, and then adjust the temperature as the tub fills up.  

• When shaving, fill the lavatory with hot water instead of letting the water run continuously.

• Fix leaky faucets and plumbing joints.  It's simple, inexpensive, and can save 140 gallons a week.

• Make sure there are aerators on all of your faucets.   

• Turn off the water while you brush your teeth and save 2.5 to 4 gallons a minute.  That's up to 200 gallons a week for a family of four.  

• Teach your children to turn the faucets off tightly after each use.  

• Do not let the water run while washing hands.  Turn the water off while soaping and turn it on again to rinse.

• Insulate hot water pipes so you don't have to run as much water to get hot water to the faucet.

• Install an instant water heater on your kitchen sink so you don't have to let the water run while it heats up.  This will also reduce heating costs for your household.  

• Keep a container of drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running water from the tap until it is cool.

• Designate one glass for your drinking water each day.  This will cut down on the number of times you run your dishwasher.

• Keep conservation in mind when working in the kitchen.  Small water savings, such as not making too much coffee or letting ice cubes melt in a sink, can add up over time.  Put your dropped ice cubes in a house plant instead of the sink.  

• Don't use running water to thaw food.  

• Use the garbage disposal sparingly and the garbage can more.  You can save 50 to 150 gallons per month!

• Wash your produce in the sink or a bowl that is partially filled with water instead of running water from the tap.  

• Use the water from the produce to water houseplants.

• Run only full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher.  You could save up to 1000 gallons a month!

• Cut back on rinsing if your dishwasher is new.  Newer models clean more thoroughly than older ones.

• Soak pots and pans instead of letting the water run while you scrap them clean.

• When washing dishes by hand, don't let the water run while rinsing.  Fill one sink with wash water and the other with rinse water.

• When doing laundry, match the water level to the size of the load.

• Check your washing machine hoses regularly for cracks that could result in leaks.

• Choose new water-saving appliances, like washing machines that save up to 20 gallons per load.

• Boycott bottled water!  It's not just about all that plastic that ends up in landfills.  Three letters of regular water go into making just one liter of bottled water.  

• Stop using disposable plastic.  Bags, cups, forks and so on can make their way to the sea, contaminating ecosystems and harming marine life.