More than half of residential water use occurs outdoors. Watering wisely outside the home promotes healthier lawns and landscapes and will save some people at least 50 percent of the water they use outdoors.
1. Water your lawn like a winner: Watering your lawn early in the morning minimizes evaporation and waste. Lawns only need watering once every two to three days in the summer and seven to ten days in the winter. From May to September, odd-even day lawn watering will be in effect. Residents are asked to water only on odd calendar days if your house number is an odd number, or, if your house number is even, water only on even calendar days. Thank you for helping to keep the spring/summer peak down.
2. Save water and contain the rain: If you’re looking for ways to save on your water bill consider an old-fashioned technology - harvest rainwater with rain barrels! Residents can purchase barrels for $60.00 at City of Fort Saskatchewan's Public Works Department. Call us at 780.992.6248.
3. Avoid buzz cuts: Raising your lawn mower blade to its highest setting encourages grass roots to grow deeper and to hold moisture longer than with a closely clipped lawn. Apply fertilizers sparingly and use ones that contain slow-release, water-insoluable forms of nitrogen.
4. Buy a nozzle for the nose of your hose: Place a shut-off nozzle on your hose to control the flow of water so you only use what you need. Remember to turn the water off at the faucet to prevent leaks.
5. Save time and water: If you don't have an automatic timer on your sprinkler, use a kitchen timer to remind you to turn off the water. Left unattended, a garden hose can water as much as 600 gallons of water in just one hour!
6. Meet your water meter: Find out if you have a leak in your home by reading your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the readings are different, you have a leak!
7. Make a faucet washer a water saver: Repair dripping faucets by replacing washers. If your faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can waste 20 gallons of water each day!
8. Use food coloring to save water: Detect toilet leaks by removing the lid from the toilet tank, remove any colored cleaning agents, flush to clear water then add a few drops of food coloring to the tank. If the tank is leaking, color will appear in the bowl within 30 minutes. To avoid staining, flush as soon as the test is complete. A leaky tank can waste 200 gallons of water each day.
9. Delay household chores: Run automatic dishwashers only when fully loaded. Set clothes washers to the appropriate water level for the size of load you are washing.
10. Shower yourself with savings: By timing your showers to keep them under five minutes and installing ultra low-flow showerheads, you can save water! New showerheads deliver 2.5 gallons of water per minute where older fixtures can deliver as high as 9 gallons per minute.
For more water conservation tips, click
HERE to link to Alberta Environment's website.