One month of low water use.

[oldandhappy]

Flushing twice a day -- have had to plunge the toilet at least once a week and have had to scrub the bowl lots more than usual. Bring back pit toilets!

Have had to clean out kitchen sink line twice.

Have done all outside watering with collected shower water in buckets.

Washing T-shirts in a bucket and air drying means now I have to iron them.

Changing bed sheets less often, no big deal. I take a quick shower before going to bed.

So, I think it is a wash -- sort of evens out. Maybe moderation is the answer. Will flush more often and run a little more water in the kitchen to keep that line open.

[Curmudgeoness]

1. There are times, I suppose, where it goes too far.

I have never had that problem, and I have been doing some of these things for years. I guess that you have to find what works for your house. I certainly would not be willing to deal with having to plunge the toilet and clean out pipes all the time. I do have an old toilet that uses more water than they allow these days, and a plumber told me that the sewer pipes in these houses are not built to work well with the low-water flushes. Seems the pipes need more water to push things out to the sewer. I could see having problems if I got a new toilet.

You are right that moderation is the answer. You find what works in your house. And I would never iron t-shirts! I don't do laundry until I have full loads, and I have enough essentials to get me through until I have a full load. I admit that there are several things that I will not air dry because of the way that they feel or look when not dried in a dryer.

Good luck to you on finding that middle ground where you are conserving without so many problems.

[oldandhappy]

2. Smile. Thanks. Yes, I tend to be a little too enthusiastic sometimes!

[NMDemDist2]

3. save grey water (or the 'warm up' water from the shower) in a 5 gallon bucket

use that to flush the toilets

[OkSustainAg]

4. I went to 3/8ths in pex tubing.

My son and I ran the house with the tubing. it uses Far less volume and keeps high pressure. It is more flexible than PVC and easier to work with. No glue or Chems.

[Kaleva]

5. For a time, I was using about 500 gallons a month

When taking a shower, I wet down, turned the water off, lathered up and scrubbed and turned the shower back on to rinse off.

I plugged the tub drain when taking a shower and scooped out that water to put in a 13 gallon tub to be used to flush the toilet.

The wash water from washing clothes I saved for flushing the toilet and cleaning dirty things like the return duct and such.

The rinse water from the washing machine I collected in another tub which I used to fill up the washing machine the next time I washed clothes.

I'd use some of the wash and rinse water from the washing machine for some house cleaning.

When brushing my teeth or shaving, I turned the faucet off when not needing the water.


I saved maybe about $10 or so on my water bill doing the above and used far less water then the average of 50-80 gallons per person per day.

[oldandhappy]

6. You have done spectacularly well!

Have to confess my showers were shorter in the summer, smile. Still using bath and shower water to flush. And we have had enough rain (thank goodness) for all outside watering.

[Kaleva]

7. Frankly, it was little gain for much effort.

However, I took it as a challenge to reduce my costs and imprint as much as possible. I was on SSDI (still am), recently divorced and had debts to pay. The debts were getting paid off and I was well on my way towards my goal of living comfortably on about $1150 a month and still be able to remodel the house and travel.

[womanofthehills]

8. No water costs

I have a solar pump pumping up my water from 160 feet - live out in the country. Take long baths every day. All my water use goes to greywater - kitchen, tub, sink and washing machine - watering my trees and garden. I use non toxic soap and detergent. I love country living!! Also collect some water off my roof for my garden.

[oldandhappy]

9. Good for you

Nothing leaving your property -- every drop is used.