Reuse your drinking glass without washing it.
Ensure that water is not being wasted in your landscaping work.
Report leaks or water waste to facility managers or maintenance personnel immediately, and follow up on the repair status to make sure they're fixed promptly.
Avoid flushing the toilet unnecessarily. Dispose of tissues, insects, and other similar waste in the trash rather than the toilet.
Operate washing machines and dishwashers only when full, and ensure they are set to the correct water settings.
Use low-angle or pulsating sprinklers that produce large fat droplets of water. Sprinklers that spray the water high into the air or produce a mist or fine spray lose much of the water through evaporation.
Make sure the taps and the toilets in your bathroom are as efficient as they can be.
On the Avalon Peninsula, a mature tree does not require watering at any time of the year.
Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator rather than running tap water until it is cool enough to drink.
Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth or shaving. (We know, we know, you've heard this a thousand times before - it can really make a difference.)
Take shorter showers and replace your shower head with a low-flow version, which can cut water use in half.
Plan ahead and thaw meat in the refrigerator overnight, rather than using running water to thaw it.
Keep buckets outdoors to collect rainwater. You can purchase rain barrels for this specifically, or just make use of buckets and storage containers that you already have.
Reuse indoor water - water you've used for washing dishes or veggies - for your outdoor gardens.
If washing dishes, scrape food into the garbage rather than rinsing it off.
Use mulch to retain moisture in the soil. This also helps to control weeds that compete with plants for water.
Don't leave sprinklers or hoses unattended, and don't leave the sprinkler running all day - use a kitchen timer to remind yourself to turn it off.
An established lawn on 15 to 20 cm of topsoil does not require watering throughout the
summer. In times of low natural rainfall, grass will naturally go dormant and may turn
brown, but this doesn't mean the lawn is damaged; it's just an aesthetics issue. So don't worry! When it rains again, the grass will become green.
Position your sprinklers so that your water lands on the lawn and shrubs, not pavement - your street, driveway, or sidewalk.
Flowerbeds with well-established perennials require watering in drought conditions only.
On your designated watering days, water lawns during the early morning hours when temperatures and wind speed are the lowest, which reduces losses from evaporation.
Using a running hose to wash your vehicle can waste about 400 litres of water. Using a bucket with a sponge plus a trigger nozzle on the hose will save you about 300 of those litres.
Plug the drain while showering and use the saved water outdoors, or use your dishwater to water your plants. Plants love this kind of water!
Soak pots and pans before washing. When washing dishes by hand, fill one sink or basin with soapy water.