Reporter-News Archives Sunday, March 7, 1999 Tips for saving water Abilene City Hall launched the “Water Smart” program during the 1984 drought to convince citizens to conserve a dwindling water supply. The program offers tips for lowering a household’s water usage both indoors and out. Inside your home -- Repair leaky faucets, which can waste up to two gallons of water per hour. -- Check your toilet for leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring in the tank. If after five minutes the color appears in the bowl, your toilet has a water-wasting leak. -- Place a half-gallon jug in your toilet tank to reduce water use by 20 percent. -- Low-flow shower heads can halve the water you use showering. -- Install low-flow aerators on your sink. These inexpensive gadgets can conserve up to six gallons per minute. -- Wait until you have a full load of dishes or clothes to run automatic washing machines. -- Don’t use the toilet as a trash can. One unnecessary flush per day wastes up to 2,500 gallons of water in a year. -- Take showers rather than baths. Baths typically use 40 gallons of water, twice as much as the average shower. Outside your home -- Xeriscape your lawn to reduce water usage by up to 40 percent. Xeriscaping involves using mulch to reduce moisture evaporation, tilling soil so it absorbs more water, limiting grassy surfaces that require more water, choosing native plants that use less water, raising the height of your lawnmower, and watering efficiently. -- Water before 10 a.m. Up to one-third of the water from a sprinkler can be lost to evaporation in the heat and wind. -- Reduce evaporation by using sprinklers that produce large drops rather than fine mists and that keep water close to the ground. -- Water deeply and infrequently. Most lawns are watered too much and too often. A good rule of thumb is to water 1 inch once a week. If you water more than this, make changes gradually to allow root systems to adjust. Water about half as much under cloudy skies. -- Gradually increase the amount of water over the spring season to reach summer needs. -- Don’t let sprinklers water the street. Water down the gutter is money down the drain. -- For shrubs or flower beds, use drip irrigation or soaker hoses that release water slowly near the plant’s root. Trees and shrubs require deeper but less frequent watering — usually once a month. -- When washing cars, use a hose with a cut-off valve to rinse. Free mulch is available at the city/county recycling center at 2209 Oak. The phone number is 676-6056. For more information about water conservation, call the city water department at 676-6405. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below:  texnews.com Reporter OnLine Local News Texas News Copyright ©1999, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications