How to save water at home
Let’s break down how much water you could save on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis by following three simple measures.
You can easily save around 17,000 gallons per person, per year without drastic changes to your lifestyle!
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On average, a running faucet has a flow rate of about 2.2-2.5 gallons per minute according to NHDES. Shower heads use about 2.5 gallons per minute. These are simple calculations based on averages and a 30-day month.
| Action | Daily Savings (gallons) | Monthly Savings (gallons) | Yearly Savings (gallons) |
| Turn the sink off while brushing teeth (1.5-2 min x 2.2 gal/min) | 3.3-4.4 | 99-132 | 1,188-1,584 |
| Shorter showers or turn the faucet off while applying shampoo, conditioner, etc. (3-5 min x 2.2 gal/min) | 6.6-11 | 198-330 | 2,376-3,960 |
| Turn the sink off while scrubbing dishes (10-15 min x 2.2 gal/min) | 22-33 | 660-990 | 7,920-11,880 |
| Total Water Savings per Person | 31.9-48.4 | 957-1,452 | 11,484-17,424 |
As you can see, these numbers really add up! This power is in everyone’s hands, and in a very literal sense every drop in the bucket counts.
Find more tips for water conservation from Utah Rivers Council here.
Another great resource is this page by Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Why does it matter?
Unfortunately, legislative action takes time and we are still lacking tangible measures to assist the situation. Although legislators have decided to fund additional research, many refuse to even set a goal for Great Salt Lake water elevation. That means that it is up to us, the people, to help protect ourselves and loved ones until something more can be done. As reported by Utah’s Geologic Survey, Utah has the second highest per-person domestic water usage in the entire country.
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Idaho is the only state higher. This means that every Utah resident can help be a major part of the solution! As discussed on our research page, lower Great Salt Lake water levels mean more exposed lakebed, and more arsenic, lead, and other toxic chemicals in our air.
We encourage you to reach out to your House and Senate Representatives. Ask them what they are doing to help protect the people they represent. You can find your representatives and get help constructing an email here.
The surrounding landscape is barely visible through the smog on some days…