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Reduce your shower time by 5 minutes

When showering with a 4.5 gallon per minute showerhead, you use 45 gallons of water every ten minutes. To save water, shorten your showers or turn off the water when you’re lathering up, shaving, or washing your hair. Be conscious of the time you take in the shower by using a shower clock, and try to reduce your shower by 10-20%. Click to calculate how much water and energy you use in the shower.

Use a watering can or a shut-off nozzle on your hoses

During just 10 minutes of washing a car or watering plants, a standard hose uses about 100 gallons. Using an automatic shutoff nozzle on your garden hose or filling up a watering can saves the water that would otherwise be wasted when the hose is not actually in use or aimed at your desired target.

Avoid mid-day watering of your lawn and gardens

If the garden or lawn receives water at mid-day, when the temperature is highest, some of the water will evaporate from the wet soil and plants before it has the chance to soak into the ground. Watering in the early morning provides plants with water at their most active period of transpiration, when they are taking up the most water through their roots. It also allows them to dry off before the cool night temperatures set in, reducing the chance of disease. Learn more about when to water.

Use a broom, rather than a hose or leaf blower, to clean sidewalks, driveways, patios, and other impermeable surfaces

Running a standard hose for just 10 minutes uses 100 gallons of water. Make sure to pick up any swept-up waste and put it in a trash can or compost pile, not the gutter or storm drain. Sweeping the waste into the gutter only adds to the pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. Remember, “Only rain down the drain!”

Use "grey" water for watering plants

“Grey water” is a term for used water from your shower, bath, washing machine, sinks, cookware, and fish bowls that you can use to water your gardens and reduce your water bills. Grey water does not include water from toilets, which is considered black water. Be creative in the ways that you collect your grey water: save water used to boil vegetables, pasta, and eggs. Collect dripping water from your window air conditioning unit. Collect water used to rinse fruits and vegetables.

For more tips on using grey water, check out this guide on rainwater harvesting and grey water reuse.

Refrain from watering your lawn

30% of the water consumed on the East Coast goes toward watering lawns. The easiest way to cut your household’s water use is to stop watering your lawn. Watering your lawn also makes your grass grow faster, and the higher your grass grows, the more often you need to mow your lawn. Learn more about the environmental impacts of traditional lawns.