Water Conservation Around Your Home 

Water conservation refers to reducing use of fresh water through technological or social methods. The goals of water conservation efforts include:

Sustainability - To ensure availability for future generations, the withdrawal of fresh water from an ecosystem should not exceed its natural replacement rate.

Energy conservation - Water pumping, delivery and wastewater treatment facilities consume a significant amount of energy. In some regions of the world (for example California) over 14% of total electricity consumption is devoted to water management.

Habitat conservation - Minimizing human water use helps to preserve fresh water habitats for local wildlife and migrating waterfowl, as well as reducing the need to build new dams and other water diversion infrastructure. 

You can help save water by:

• Taking shorter showers. One or two minutes less time in the shower can save up to 700 gallons a month.
• Turning off the water faucet while brushing your teeth or shaving.
• Fixing leaky faucets, toilets and pipes.
• Washing only full loads in your washing machine and dishwasher.
• Refrigerateing drinking water instead of running the faucet until water runs cool.
• Not useing the toilet for a waste basket you will save hundreds of gallons.
• Watering lawns early in the mornings and only if needed.
• Mulching around trees and plants to hold water and cool the soil.
• Washing your car using a bucket of sudsy water followed by a quick hose rinse. Be sure to use a shutoff nozzle.
• Cleaning sidewalks and driveways with a broom, not water from a hose.

The links below will help you with information you can use to reduce the amount of water you use and save money on your utility bill ...

• www.bewaterwise.com
  
• www.h2ouse.org
  
• www.mwdoc.com/SmarTimer
  
• www.wateruseitwisely.com/ 

Local resources include

• The Water Conservation Garden - thegarden.org 
• City of San Diego - sandiego.gov/water
  
• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power - ladwp.com
  
• California Department of Water Resources - water.ca.gov