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Dean Solomon District Natural Resources Agent and Eckhart Dersch Professor of Resource Development Michigan State University This bulletin is designed to help you save money, protect your health and reduce the risk of damaging the quality of your drinking water, lake or pond by practicing water conservation in your home. These tips are best used in conjunction with Extension bulletin E-1521, "Maintaining Your Septic System." Conserving Water...Here? Michigan has abundant water resources envied by people in less fortunate parts of the country. In those places, conservation by homeowners is often necessary, just to have enough water for basic needs. But why conserve here in water-rich Michigan? The simplest answer is that conserving water saves money - in many cases, very significant amounts of money. If you depend on your own well and septic system, the hundreds of gallons of water released each day will, over a period of years, saturate the soil near the septic system absorption field to the point where extensive repair or replacement is necessary. Replacing a septic system costs $2,000 to $4,000. Conserving water can extend the life of the system and delay the need for repair. If you live in an area serviced by a municipal system, the greater your water use, the more you pay for water and sewer service. In some communities, costly sewage system expansion has been avoided by communitywide household water conservation. In addition to saving money, water conservation helps tremendously in preventing water pollution. Old, leaky or poorly designed septic systems may cause nutrient and bacterial contamination of nearby lakes, streams and drinking water, even the water from your own well. Overloading municipal sewer systems can also cause untreated sewage to flow to lakes and rivers. The smaller the amount of water flowing through these systems, the lower the likelihood of pollution. Pollution costs money, too. Excessive weed growth in a lake caused by nutrient enrichment from leaky septic systems often means costly

weed control measures paid for by you and your neighbors. Polluted home water wells cost thousands of dollars to fix... if they can be repaired at all. Figure 1. Water use around the home Figure 2. A toilet dam (below left) or a rock-filled container (below right) can reduce the amount of water flowing out of the toilet by up to 25%. Water use around Your Home The first step in understanding how to conserve water in your home is to know where water is used. Most people use 50 to 70 gallons of water indoors each day and as much as the same amount outdoors, depending on the season. Indoors, three-quarters of all the water is used in the bathroom (Fig. 1). Outdoors, lawn and garden watering and car washing account for most of the water used. How to Conserve Water Daily Because such a huge percentage of the water you use is used in the bathroom, that's where water conservation efforts should focus. You can install a few simple, inexpensive devices in the bathroom that can save a lot of water with no change in your lifestyle or your present habits. Many hardware and plumbing supply stores stock these items. These are: Toilet dams or rock-filled containers. These devices (one of which you can make yourself, Fig. 2) reduce the amount of water flowing out of the toilet by up to 25 percent. They do not affect its flushing ability. Never use a brick to accomplish the same effect-particles from it could harm your plumbing. Always be sure that at least 3 gallons of water remain in the tank so it will flush properly. Low flow, water-saving shower heads. This piece of plumbing (Fig. 3) reduces the amount of water flowing through your shower by up to 50 percent, but increases its velocity so the shower feels the same. This also saves hot water. You may even be able to avoid buying a larger water heater, should the need arise. Faucet aerators. These devices restrict the amount of water going through your faucet by up to 50 percent, but add bubbles so the flow of water appears the same. They could be installed on all of your faucets, not just the ones in your bathroom.