Turn off the faucet
Did you know that turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth can save up to 1,500 gallons of water per year? There are lots of times where we can forget to turn the faucet off during our daily routine, like brushing our teeth and shaving. This simple action can result in big savings!
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Action Steps & Tips
Introduction
Turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth, shave, wash dishes or other common water uses is one of the easiest ways to save water daily. It may not seem like much, but running the water even for a few minutes really adds up! Just turning the faucet off for a minute or two can save over 1,500 gallons of water a year.
Turning off the faucet saves energy, money and precious water resources!
1 Tips for saving water at the faucet
Here are a few simple, easy and free tips to save water at the faucet.
Turn off the water when brushing teeth. Once you have your toothbrush wet, you don't really need the water running. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth and you can save up to 1,500 gallons of water a year for every person in your household! That adds up to 6,000 gallons of water a year for a family of four.
Turn off the water when hand washing. Turn off the water while soaping up. Get your hands wet, turn off the water, soap up and then turn the water back on to rinse.
Use the bowl for shaving. When you’re shaving, it’s really not necessary to rinse the razor under running water. Plug the sink or use a bowl, add some water and use this to rinse your razor.
Save at the kitchen faucet too. This practice also holds for the kitchen and other faucets in your house. If you are hand washing dishes, fill up one basin or a bowl with water for washing and a second basin for rinsing—skip the running water.
Post a note! Share these tips with others in your household and help keep each other on track. Also post a note on the bathroom mirror to remind you to turn the tap off! Make it fun—set up a game and track points for water saved. The winner gets...
Extra Credit: Add a faucet aerator. Adding an aerator on your faucets can significantly cut down on water use without impacting performance. An aerator mixes air into the water flow, reducing water usage. Learn more on the Install Low Flow action.