It takes a lot of water to produce the food we eat, the energy we use and all the things that we buy. Use our water saving tips below to reduce your water use when you water your lawn or garden. You’ll find lots of ways to shrink your water footprint.
If you must, water your lawn when it’s cooler – in the early morning or late evening – to reduce water loss from evaporation.
Don’t water the lawn on windy days because much of it will be lost to evaporation.
Set up your sprinklers so they’re not spraying the sidewalk or driveway. Not only does that squander water supplies, it can also wash polluting fertilizers and pesticides into sewer systems.
Turn your sprinklers off when rain is expected, and set up a system with rain/moisture sensors if you have automatic sprinklers.
Make sure you’re on a dry part of the lawn that can use the water if you’re going to play with a sprinkler or water toy, and avoid buying toys that require a constant stream of water.
Use a drip irrigation system instead of a hose or sprinkler to water your garden, and hand-water your lawn or garden instead of using sprinklers when possible – you could cut your water use in half.
Set lawn mower blades one notch higher because longer grass equals less evaporation.
Don’t let the hose run. Buy a squeeze (pistol grip) nozzle for your hose so you don’t have to use the tap to start and stop the flow.