Mandy PhillipsYour bathroom uses more water than you realize. If you’re living alone, your bathroom accounts for around half of your monthly water bill. That’s anywhere between 80 to 100 gallons of water that is used in the bathroom per day. 30% of that is from you flushing the toilet. Imagine how much water you use in the bathroom every day if you live with a large family!
You can save a significant amount of water and money on your monthly water bill if you know how to conserve water in the bathroom.
The best part is that saving water is easy, and there are plenty of ways you can do it. The real hard work is applying water-saving methods to your daily life.
Looking for expert tips to save water in the bathroom? Here are 12 smart ways to reduce your bathroom’s water consumption.
How to Save Water in the Bathroom
1. Remember to Turn Off the Faucet
Don’t leave the faucet running when not in use. This includes while you’re brushing your teeth or lathering soap in your hand. Turn off the tap while you’re shaving too.
Every second the tap is open wastes a considerable amount of water, especially when you multiply it by how many times you brush your teeth or wash your hands. It’s a simple water-saving trick that can save you 15 liters of water per minute or around 750 liters per week for an average household of four people. Don’t forget to encourage everyone to make a habit of turning off the tap.
2. Check for Leaks
It might not seem like much, but did you know that a small drip from a leak in your bathroom wastes plenty of water? A single drop can add up to 20 liters of water wasted per day.
Regularly checking your bathroom for leaks and slow drips can help save a lot of water. Check your dripping showerhead and bathroom faucets too, and make sure to turn them off tightly after every use.
3. Upgrade into a Low-Flow Toilet
Switching to a new, more efficient toilet is a smart way to save water in the bathroom. Newer toilet models come with more functionality, especially in how they use water.
Usually, older toilets, those manufactured before 1992, use about 3.5 gallons of water per flush. But new toilets, like low-flush toilets, only use a maximum of 1.6 gallons per flush. Upgrading to a new toilet may cost around a hundred dollars but imagine how much you can save on your monthly water bills.
4. Get a Dual Flush Toilet
Another toilet upgrade option you have is switching into a dual-flush toilet. This model comes with two flush settings – half flush and full flush. This way, you can put an end to using extra water when it’s not necessary.
Use the full flush for flushing solid wastes. Otherwise, the half flush will do. It can save you so much more water than an older, standard toilet.
5. Install Water Aerators on Bathroom Faucets
Water aerators make your bathroom faucet more efficient, especially when it comes to saving water. It introduces air in tap water, reducing the water flow.
Generally, a standard bathroom faucet produces 11 to 26 liters of water per minute. Adding an aerator to your bathroom faucet lowers the flow to only two to four liters per minute. That’s a lot of water saved!
How to Save Water in the Shower
6. Take Shorter Showers
Long showers are relaxing, especially hot showers. But if you want to save water, you might want to consider taking a 5-minute shower instead of a 20-minute shower.
Here’s the thing – every minute in the shower uses around 9.5 liters. So, if you can cut back on your shower time by at least a half or so, that’s a lot of water you’re saving. Here’s another tip – consider taking cold showers when you can. These will easily speed up your shower ritual, among several other benefits cold showers provide.
7. Switch to a Low-Flow Showerhead
Look for the best water-saving showerhead within your budget. Low-flow showerheads waste around nine liters of water per minute, sometimes even less. Compare that to the 12 to 22 liters a standard, non-efficient showerhead uses, and you’re looking at saving a lot of water.
Although low-flow showerheads will cost a bit more than regular showerheads, they will ultimately save you on water bills in the long run.
8. Never Leave the Shower Running
Make it a habit to turn off the shower when you’re not rinsing. For instance, when you are washing your hair, lathering up, or exfoliating in the shower. Turning the shower off whenever you don’t need the water is an efficient water conservation method you can do in the bathroom.
Another thing, adjust the water temperature first before turning on the water. This will help prevent being surprised by too-hot water and wasting liters as you wait for the temperature of the water to cool down.
9. Consider Getting a Steam Shower
You usually see steam showers in luxurious bathrooms or in the spa. But while they may only appear to look and feel lavish, steam showers are also a water-efficient upgrade you can do for your bathroom at home. They only use around 7.5 liters every 30 minutes, a measly amount compared to standard showerheads.
Imagine coming home after a busy day and relaxing in that soothing steam while saving water in the bathroom at the same time! If you have a steam shower, you can take a shower longer than you normally would without worrying about your monthly water bill.
10. Switch to a Neutral pH Soap
Simply switching your usual bar of soap to a neutral-pH soap can help save water. Most soaps and shower gels or body washes take more water to rinse off.
If you can switch to pH-balanced shampoo and conditioner, that is great too.
How to Save Water When Taking a Bath
11. Plug the Drain Before Anything Else
Taking a shower instead of a bath will save a lot of water. But sometimes, a bath is such a good idea you can’t resist. If you do take a bath, make it a habit to plug the drain first before filling the tub with water. It’s a good practice even when the water hasn’t finished heating yet. There’s no reason to waste too-cold or too-hot water when you can simply adjust the water temperature and the tap continues running.
12. Fill the Tub Halfway Less Than You Normally Would
It’s tempting to fill the tub with water before you go inside. If that’s how you do it, then you know how much water gets spilled the moment you step into the bathtub. So, how about filling the tub halfway the amount you normally would?
That simple bathing habit can help make your routine more water-friendly. If you’re ready for an upgrade, you might also want to consider getting a more compact bathtub to help save water.
Save Water in Your Bathroom Every Day
Redesigning your bathroom and switching to water-saving appliances and fixtures is a great start to saving water. But being diligent in changing your bathroom behavior, like showering and taking a bath, makes a much bigger difference.
Saving water in the bathroom is quite simple, and the tips outlined above should help you find where to start. It can be difficult to rethink and change how you do things, but these tips are all worth it. Even small changes, like turning off the tap when brushing your teeth and promptly fixing leaky pipes and faucets, can make a huge difference.
