Using faucets in your home for personal hygiene, such as brushing your teeth, takes up approximately 12 percent of your home's water usage! Conserving water while you're brushing your teeth has several benefits, including a reduced water bill and conservation of fresh water.
Turn Off the Tap
Turning off the water between wetting your toothbrush and rinsing your mouth is one of the simplest and most effective ways to save water while brushing your teeth. The University of Illinois calculates that shutting off the tap instead of letting it run continuously will save your family up to 10 gallons of water daily.
Aerate Your Faucet
Using a faucet aerator on your bathroom faucet is a great, cost-effective method of saving water at home. The aerator introduces tiny air bubbles into your faucet's flow so you use less water overall while brushing your teeth. For the best results, use an aerator with a listed flow rate of 1 gallon per minute or less. Standard bathroom faucets are typically set at 1.5 gpm or higher. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that such aerators can cut your water usage by up to 60 percent.
Use A Cup
Instead of filling your hands with water to rinse your mouth after brushing your teeth, (this act wastes water as the tap runs while your hands are away from the faucet) -- use a cup.
Fill the cup with water and use that water to rinse your mouth. Experiment with different amounts of water until you're filling the cup with just enough water to rinse your mouth.
Limit Your Water Pressure
Greater water pressure from your bathroom sink faucet causes more water to eject from the faucet when you turn it on in comparison to a faucet with a lower water pressure.
Reduce your home's water pressure by using a self-installed pressure-reducing valve, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They estimate that cutting your water pressure from 100 pounds per square inch (PSI) to 50 PSI cuts your use by approximately 1/3. As an added savings tip, use cold water to reduce your monthly bill even further!
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