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Some extremely easy ways to conserve water:
Don't bath
Don't drink anything
Don't wash anything
Concrete your whole yard and never hose it down
Keep plastic flowers around the place
Keep your pool empty
Encourage others to do the above
Hmmmm Too Hard you say....
Then try these, they should be easier:
Use a front loading washing machine (saves about 2/3 of water)
take your dishwasher to the tip (dump) (it adds massive amounts of water and caustic chemicals to the municipal wastewater
stream)
Don't fit insinkerators (they add massive amounts of organic material to the sewer in large chunks that don't break down
in a hurry - put it in the compost)
Use grey water where possible except on vegetables (its best to filter and use drip irrigation as bacteria can travel
in aerosols from sprinklers)
Check tap washers regularly (leaking taps waste more water than most things in industry and around the home)
Plant native trees from your area - known as local provenance planting (somehow local trees stay green even in a drought
- food for thought)
Mulch gardens heavily to retain moisture (don't bother too much about adding nitrogen before the mulch as nitrate is converted
to nitrogen gas in anaerobic environments)
Save rain water in tanks (don't think that tank water is better quality than tap water - it's just free). Every litre
you save in a tank is a litre saved for a drought or a litre released as environmental flows down the river.
If you have a pool cover it - the average outdoor Olympic pool looses about 100L/day in evaporation.
Keep an eye out for the new water smart (AAA) rating system similar to the energy stars on appliances. Soon all tap fittings
and machines that use water will need to be accredited. The more 'A's the better.
Leave bottled water in the supermarket it's more environmentally sustainable to turn on a tap. It's also cheaper ($2/600ml
in a bottle or 90c/1000L from a tap).
If you have a septic system plant thirsty plants down hill from the infiltration drain - you'll never have to water them
again.
Drip irrigation can be 10 times more efficient than sprinklers (depending on your soil type and time of the day).
Water gardens in the late afternoon or on still day.
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