Our modern lives make it easy to overlook excessive water use. Whether it’s the gallons of water we go through during long, hot showers or the staggering amount needed to keep the lawn lush and vibrant, every drop adds up to immeasurable usage and even waste. As record-breaking drought conditions wreak havoc across the world, these lifestyle choices become more and more unsustainable.

Fortunately, there are many steps we can all take to reduce water usage at home. Below are a few tips on conserving water around the house and doing your part to help protect Earth’s most valuable resource.

A good place to start is the kitchen because a lot of cleaning, and therefore water usage, goes down in this popular area of the house. Many people assume the dishwasher is the biggest water waster but that typically isn’t the case. The culprit might be you. For example, if you let the faucet run until the water is cold to get a drink, you’re not making the best choice. Instead, store a water pitcher in the fridge for cold drinks.  

Along the same lines, when doing dishes, it’s recommended to let messy pots and pans soak for a bit. That way, less water is used to clean them. Similarly, be mindful of how much water you use to do the dishes. An old kitchen faucet can go through 1 to 3 gallons of water a minute when it’s set to full blast. A final kitchen tip would be to update an outdated dishwasher to a newer, more efficient model, usually reducing water usage by 15% over standard ones.

Next is the bathroom, which typically accounts for over half of all indoor water use. One of the most straightforward routes to conserve water in these rooms is to upgrade the fixtures. Small changes such as a water-efficient faucet or shower head can add up to considerable savings. Also, installing advanced plumbing technology can significantly reduce the level of waste. In fact, up-to-date toilets may use 1.28 gallons or less each flush while older ones use as much as 6 gallons. Such a difference adds up fast when there’s a full house.

If new appliances and fixtures aren’t in the budget, instead, the household’s habits could be watered down. A few ways to decrease water usage in the bathroom include taking shorter showers, turning water off while shaving or brushing teeth and refraining from flushing certain items down the toilet. Items such as tissues, wet wipes and dental floss not only squander water when flushed, but also could clog the drains and cause costly damage.

All these tips cover merely two rooms. If you’re serious about conserving water, there’s so much more you can do. Check out the accompanying resource for additional water conservation tips to perform around the house!

Author bio: Tom Tobin is President of Diversified Technology. Tobin has more than 30 years of experience serving municipalities and municipal utilities. After representing Diversified Billing's predecessor software for 15 years, he bought the rights to the software and founded Diversified Technology in 2007. For the last 15 years he has grown the business to serve more than 350 clients that use the software to generate more than 7 million utility bills annually.