To what lengths do you ladies go to conserve water?

I use rubbermaid pans to handwash dishes in...no dish washer for me...unless you count my 13 yr old dd...but she uses more water than an automatic d.w. would...lol

1. I use rinse water (from dishes) to flush commode.
2. I reclaim rinse water from laundry to wash the next load.
3. Use bathwater to flush or start a wash cycle (we don't have a shower).
4. Also use wash cycle (laundry) water to mop k. floor.

Any other ideas or am I the only strange one in the village?? :toothy:

I have just begun with my efforts and the results won't show until the next bill...6 weeks...sigh...I hate waiting ...I do know this...I will never have another water bill over 100.00 again!

We don't waste water.but I don't go to those measures to save it either.For a family of 6,our water bill is usually $22/month.
I do about 20 loads of laundry a week(thats just guessing but I do wash a lot) we all take a bath/shower everyday(Katie and Jackson bathe together).Plus do dishes everyday.Either Ashley washes or sometimes I am a nice mom and let her load the dishwasher lol
Plus we use water for the normal stuff....dog,plants,cooking etc etc....


Edited:I got my water bill right here..(had to look for it lol) Under consumption it has 62....I'm guessing it's 6200 gallons...????
Charges is $23.45

Holy Moly!! My consumption was 1100 gal last 2 months and our bill was 96.00!! Actually...water usage was 35.00...the sewage is what kills us: 61.00 for sewage!

We don't pay sewer...we have a septic tank.If we did,I'm sure it would be a lot more.

Everyone tells me we have a cheap water bill. I'm not complaining.
Last summer we had to top the pool off.It went up to $34 and i bout passed out LOL


I guess we use a lot of water if yours was only 1100!!

On my bill it reads...previous reading 4722 and then current reading 4784..then consumption 62......?? Steve said maybe it meant 62 gallons but I'm sure for a family of 6 we use more than 62 gals! Ashley is the queen of 45 min showers :rolleyes:

My washer takes 40 gal just to fill the wash cycle...I'd say you're right...6200...Wish we had septic tank!

Graci, we pay for both water and sewer as well. We did the same when we lived in the city, but it costs us more here than it did in the city.

We are now doing a few of the things you do. We also

~have rain barrels in the summer to collect rain water
~the kids usually bath in the same water
~I only do laundry on Monday now (finish the last 2 loads on Tues), rather than doing laundry all week long.
~I don't have a dishwasher either. I rinse the dishes in a dishpan in very hot water. Now that I read your posts, I'll be saving that water to flush the toilet with.
~we keep a jug of water in our fridge for drinking water. That way, water isn't running to get cold for a drink of water.
~we fill a glass up with water, shut the water off and then brush our teeth.

We have a well and septic.  But they both have to be maintained.  Since DH is on the road and it's winter, the water usage is very low.  In the summer months, I have a garden to keep watered and I'm sure that I use more water then.

Susie in MN

You reminded me of something else I do, too. When waiting for the water to "get to the proper temp" for dishes, I let it run in one of the tubs for watering animals, plants...etc. or if I have enough for those purposes, into the washing machine it goes!

We do the same thing while brushing teeth, too.

And I'm going to have to keep a gal. in the frig, too. My dd is really bad about letting water run down the drain.

My dd won't use the same water as her brother for bathing...Infact, she insists on bathing in the morning whenever possible.

My son is the fastest bath in the east...LOL...He washes, rinses and gets out within 10 min. I use his water when I do the wash cycle cause it's still usable. I can't do that with anyone elses cause they leave the soap in the water.

When you save the water from the rinse (dishes)-- make sure you leave it in a bucket to cool, first. You don't want to melt the wax seal on the commode!

Graci, I'm so glad you got this thread started. I was looking at ways to save and you gave some great ones. The town is going for a huge rate increase because they need to put in new water and sewer lines. We pay a flat rate for so many gallons of water and then it goes up with each 2,000. The flat rate alone has gone up $4 per month, and then it starts to increase really fast. There isn't one utility bill that hasn't gone up this year.

I'm thinking a suds saver, but before I spend any money on that I'm going to look and see if my washtubs have any leaks in them. If they don't, I'm bringing them in and going to use them as suds savers for the rinse water when washing laundry.

I had some storage bins from Pre- decluttering days...hehehe... I use them for my "storage" tanks. It takes 2 but they work great and I'm not tempted to fill them back up with junk! LOL
:toothy: