Water is a precious, vital resource. The planet and all of its inhabitants need water to survive. Without it, plant life would not flourish, animals would die, and humans would cease to exist. The world would be a barren, desolate desert with no life on it whatsoever. We all realize the importance of water but few try to conserve this precious resource. Our fresh water resources are being used at an alarming rate. With the population increasing by the second and hotter summers and drier winters, we need to save as much water as we can for future generations.

Before you start on what you can do to combat water usage in your home, you must check to see that you do not have any faulty pipes and plumbing. What appears to be a tiny leak in your basement will progressively get worse and will affect your water bill negatively. Making sure that your pipes are in good working order will also ensure that moisture and water accumulation will not occur, which is key to preventing mold growth.

2/3 of water usage in the home is used in the bathroom. Taking a shower or bath uses the largest amount of water in the bathroom, so naturally, it is important to utilize water as effectively as possible. Consider installing a low flow showerhead, which uses less water per minute of usage. Older showerheads can use about five gallons of water per minutes. A regular ten-minute shower Cut down on your shower time in 5-minute increments until you are able to get in and out of the shower in five minutes, which is all you really need to take a shower anyway. If you take a bath, it is not necessary to fill up the tub to the rim. Filling it up to about 2/3 of the way is good enough and will feel just as relaxing.

Replace your current toilet with a low flow toilet if it is using more than two gallons per flush. The most recent low flow toilets only use about 1.68 gallons per flush, which can add up to huge annual savings, especially with bigger families. The toilet is used to flush urine and feces down its drain, obviously, but some people use it as a second trash can. Tissue, insects, and even food items that are harder to dispose of in a regular trash receptacle are needlessly flushed down the toilet.

We must do as much as we can to preserve our water, and as you can see, it will not be very difficult to make just a few minor adjustments in the bathroom to do your part.