The sunshine has been peeking out a bit in the last several weeks, reminding us that summer is just around the corner. While there are still several weeks of pre-spring before the official spring and summer seasons arrive, this is the perfect time of year to make sure that you and your family are prepared and have the right habits and projects in place.
With this extra water usage, it is important to be thoughtful of how we use water around the house now, so that there is enough water for the extra water activities during the spring and summer months. It might seem a little strange to think about running out of water, but it actually does happen in many parts of the Country each year.
In fact, only 1% of all of the water on our planet is able to be consumed by living things. And, that 1% must be shared amongst all plants, animals, and humans. Here are some other interesting facts about water for you and your family to study:
- If you have a top-loading washing machine that is not designed to be water-efficient, you are likely using upwards of 40 gallons of water per load of laundry. A newer and more water-efficient model typically uses around 20 gallons of water per load.
- Hand washing your dishes will use around 20 gallons of water each time. Running a load of dishes in the dishwasher will use between 4 and 6 gallons of water, depending on the model of your dishwasher.
- Each time you go out to eat and the server brings you a complimentary glass of water, it takes approximately two more glasses of water to wash and rinse that one glass. With nearly 70 million meals served in restaurants each day, a significant amount of water could be saved by declining the complimentary glass of water.
Saving water is an important habit all year around but, this time of year is when it is really important because we are going into the summer months. The activities that most families enjoy doing during the summer involve using water. And, in the spring season, we all begin watering the lawn, garden, and landscaping.