water, water (wasted) everywhere

With the state of water availability here in Georgia, we have been working extra hard at our house to make sure we are not wasting water. It's amazing what you notice once you start paying close attention to your water usage. We really take clean water for granted in this country, and the convenience of being able to just turn on the tap or flush the toilet whenever we want to.

As we've been learning very quickly in the southeast US, our water is NOT unlimited. That, in addition to the fact that is also something we have to pay for, is a lot of motivation to change our habits and the way we think about our water usage.

One thing we have started doing is catching water in bowls and buckets. I try not to put any water down the drain that could possibly be used for something else. The picture above shows a half gallon (8 cups) of water that would normally be wasted while waiting for the hot water to get to the faucet. Actually in our bathroom it takes a little more than this- I can run 8 cups, dump it out into our larger bucket, and then get 3 more cups while the hot water finally gets to the tap and I get a washcloth wet for washing dirty faces, etc. Think about all the times in a day you run water down the drain waiting for the hot water!! It is probably around a half gallon each time- that's clean, usable water (that YOU are paying for!) going right down the drain.

So we dump that water from the bathroom sink into a larger bucket that stays in the bathtub*, and use it to fill the tank of the toilet for flushes. The bucket also catches water from the tub faucet when waiting for hot water. Doing this has cut way down on the fresh water that is used to fill the toilet tank- reusing water that would have just gone down the drain.

And there are so many other times we have found we were dumping water down the drain! The leftover water from the kettle after making coffee in the morning. Half-drunk glasses we find all over the house. Even the sink full of rinse water from doing dishes- which can be used for soaking the breakfast dishes the following morning if you leave it in the sink overnight! There are so many ways we can use less water, if we just pay attention and stop mindlessly using it like there will never be an end to the supply.

Here are some links with lots more ideas for how you can save water around your home as well as in your community:
http://earth911.org/water/water-conservation/
http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/
http://www.americanwater.com/49ways.htm
http://www.eartheasy.com/live_water_saving.htm

*Water sitting in a bucket can be a serious drowning hazard for kids. Please do NOT do this if the bucket is accessible to a small child in your home. We keep our bathroom door closed tightly at all times in order to make sure this will not be a danger. (And since we have a 1 year old who loves to splash in the toilet too!) As soon as we become home owners we will be installing some sort of greywater recycling system, and get rid of the bucket. This is just a temporary fix for us.