Finding ways to reuse water can help reduce our water consumption and preserve the water resources. Only about 2.5% of the Earth’s water is freshwater, but only 31% of it is accessible for use. Almost 70% of the freshwater available on Earth is in form of glaciers and ice caps and located in places like the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.
Make sure your faucets at home don’t leak because, in just one week, your dripping faucet could waste more than 140 gallons of water. Always check for leaks outside the house.
1. Use Rain Water
In most cases, rainwater is just left to run off into the sewer systems, but there so many uses you can do if you start collecting it. You can easily install a rain barrel for this purpose, connect it to your gutter, and start collect rainwater.
You can use this collected water for different purposes at home such as filter it and boiled for drinking, or use it to clean the house, laundry, watering plants, toilets and dishes. If you get a lot of rain you can install rain harvesting systems and control how much water is used for other purposes.
2. Save Pasta Water
Another great way to reuse water for your plants is to use pasta water. After you boil your pasta in water, don’t waste the water and let it go down the drain. You can simply use a colander to collect the water from the pasta and then let it cool. Later you can use it to water plants or to steam vegetables.
3. Save the Water After Washing Fruits and Vegetables
The same rule applies to the water from washing fruits and veggies. You can collect and reuse it for other purposes at home or water your indoor and outdoor plants., instead of throwing this water down the drain.
4. Install a Grey Water System
There are many advantages of using wastewater as a resource rather than a waste product. You are not only helping reducing water consumption and preserve resources but also reduce the amount of pollution going into waterways, reduce water bills and save money, reduce money for new infrastructure on water supplies and wastewater treatment.
A simple way is to collect the water from the washing machine, which uses thousands of gallons per year. You can use this also called grey water in your landscape. Grey water or sullage refers to wastewater generated in households or office buildings.
Make sure you use eco-friendly and plant-based soaps and cleaners in your household so you do not dump potential harmful chemicals in your landscape.
5. Recycle Pool Water
When it comes to the pool, we all know that a swimming pool can waste a lot of water. Instead of dumping every year and refiling it you can recycle that dirty green water and reuse it. One method that can be used to purified pool water is using reverse osmosis. This method will save thousands of gallons of water.
Reverse osmosis method can remove bacteria and is used in industrial processes. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pressure, a colligative property that is driven by chemical potential.
6. Reuse Unwanted Ice
Don’t throw away ice! Rather than letting the ice go down the drain, you can use for other purposes such as water your plants or your lawn. Just throw the ice and let it melt. So easy!
If people stop wasting leftover ice this will millions of gallons of water worldwide.
7. Reuse Unused Drinking Water
We all know how easy can be to forget a bottle with water or half-drunk or unfurnished a glass of water. But instead of just throwing it away you can easily repurpose this usable water to wash dishes, clean furniture, or to water plants.
When water sit for a long time it can get contaminated by bacteria or the taste can get change but this doesn’t prevent you from reusing it. Also used on potted plants, can be stale pet water.
8. Install Sink-to-toilet System
A sink-to-toilet water system is another way to use greywater that connects your toilet to your bathroom sink. You can find great resources and a variety of systems from Water Wise Group. This way you can use the flows from the sink to the toilet every time you flush.
You can also use that greywater to water your lawn, but make sure you do not use harsh chemicals in your household.
9. Use Aquarium Water to Irrigate Plants
If you have aquarium you know that you have to change water regularly to ensure your fish stay healthy. The dirty water can be collected for agricultural reuse, water your plants or even for your lawn. The phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and ammonium materials found in this water are perfect natural fertilizer for plants or garden.
An example of the positive use of fish waste as a natural plant fertilizer is aquaponics. This is a type of agriculture where the nutrient-rich aquaculture water is fed to hydroponically grown plants.
Tip: Avoid reusing water from saltwater aquariums, because it may actually harm plants.
10. Create a Rain Garden
Rain gardens are simple to built and can collect, absorb, and filter rainwater runoff from roof tops, driveways, patio. Putting up rain gutters and directing rainwater to the garden and then the plants take up nutrients and water that flow into the rain garden, and they release water vapor back to the atmosphere through the process of transpiration.
Final Thoughts
There are many other ways also you can save or reuse water such as do not let faucet runs when brushing your teeth or shaving, or when washing the car the water can be redirected and used for your lawn. Soap water cannot harm the grass. Saving or preserving water today will helps us for tomorrow. Drinking water across the globe is reducing and over 600 million people do not have access to drinking water.
