Conservation & Protection Tips

Ten Ways to Avoid Water Waste

1. Take shorter showers. A one- or two-minute reduction can save up to 700 gallons a month. Also, consider installing low-flow showerheads that can save 500 to 800 gallons a month.
   

2. If you don't already have an Ultra Low-Flush toilet, put one in. Older toilets can use up to seven gallons per flush. The ULF toilets, using only 1.6 gallons or less per flush, can save your household up to 20 percent on total indoor water consumption for a family of four.  Also avoid toilet water waste.  Do not use it as a trash disposal.
   

3. Capture what you can. While waiting for hot water to reach your tap, catch the flow in a watering can to use later around the house or garden. This activity, which requires very little effort, saves 200 to 300 gallons a month.
   

4. While brushing your teeth, doing dishes by hand, shaving or washing the car, don't let the water run freely from the hose or faucet. Hundreds of gallons a month can be saved.
   

5. Do not over-water plants and landscape.  Water your landscape only when it needs it. If you have a lawn, step on your grass. If it springs back when you lift your foot, it doesn't need water. Accordingly, set your sprinklers for more days in between watering. This saves 750 to 1,500 gallons a month. For best results, try morning watering when evaporation loss is at a minimum.  Be sure to adjust your sprinklers to avoid water runoff into streets and gutters.  This saves 500 gallons a month.  In times of drought, water with a hose.
   

6. Fix leaky faucets and plumbing joints. Savings of 20 gallons a day for every leak stopped will be achieved.
   

7. When washing dishes and clothes, run only full loads. Between 300 and 800 gallons a month in savings.
   

8. Avoid washing down paved areas.  Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks. This effort saves 150 gallons or more each time.
   

9. When washing the car use a bucket of water.  Use the hose only to rinse.
   

10. Create your own water-wise landscape.  By following the basic principles of water-wise landscaping, you will arrive at beautiful landscape solutions that work in the Southern California climate.

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How to Check for Leaks

While you're carefully watching your water usage, it's important to make sure that water is not slipping away due to undetected leaks in your system.  Here's a simple procedure that can tell you if you have a leak and how much water you're losing.

1. Locate your water meter.  It is usually located near the street in front of your home.
   

2. Read the meter twice - first at night after the day's water use has ended, and again in the morning before any water is used.
   

3. Subtract the first number from the second reading to tell how much water (if any) leaked out overnight.
   

4. If you suspect a leak, your pipes and connections should be checked and repaired quickly.

The toilet is a common source of unnoticed leaks.  Undetected, hundreds of gallons of water can be wasted each day.  Often leaks occur when the toilet is out of adjustment or parts are worn.  Listening carefully for the sound of running water is a good way to detect a possible leak.  Food coloring or a dye tablet added to the tank will also reveal water leaking into the toilet bowl.  Drop it in the tank and don't flush.  If the water in the bowl turns color, you have a leak.

If you suspect a leak on your property and need assistance in determining its location, please contact the District.

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Wise Water Use in the Kitchen and Laundry

More than 10% of all water used in the home is used in the washing machine.  An automatic clothes washer, at full cycle and highest water level, uses 30-35 gallons of water.  The dishwasher is also a potential heavy user, requiring 25 gallons for a full cycle.  Dishwashing with the tap running takes five gallons per minute - approximately 30 gallons per average washing.

Tips for saving water in your kitchen and laundry:

• Instead of running water continuously, fill wash and rinse basins with water.
  

• Run only full loads in the dishwasher.  Avoid using the extra cycle.
  

• Chill drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap.
  

• Use your garbage disposal sparingly, using a garbage can for most kitchen waste.
  

• Wash only full loads of clothes on the short cycle in your washing machine.
  

• Check faucets and hose connections for leaks.  Repair or replace whenever necessary.

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Landscaping and Conservation

In the average household, water use doubles in the summer, primarily due to landscape irrigation.  But, conserving water does not have to mean a dry landscape.

Some Myths about Drought-Resistant Landscaping

1. Drought-tolerant landscaping isn't colorful.
   
   In truth, many drought-tolerant plants are prolific bloomers.  In addition, by carefully choosing foliage colors and textures for contrast, you can bring color interest to the garden year-round.
   

2. Only California-native plants are drought tolerant.
   
   A great deal has been written lately about the use of California natives, but actually, many good drought-tolerant plants are available to us from the other Mediterranean-type climates around the world.  Some of the most common of these plants are eucalyptus, oleander, and acacia.
   

3. Drought-tolerant landscaping doesn't require any water at all.
   
   Even drought-resistant plants require some initial watering to become established.  However, once they are established, drought-resistant plants will get by on considerably less water than we have been accustomed to lavishing on our landscape.

In the garden, try these water-conserving techniques:

• Use a variety of attractive low-water plants.
  

• Use a drip irrigation system to apply water slowly, reducing run-off and promoting deep rooting.
  

• Lay mulch, which can be made from readily available wood chips or leaf mold, act as a blanket to keep in moisture, and help prevent erosion, soil compression, and weeds.
  

• Preserve existing trees.  Established plants are often adapted to low water conditions.  Porous paving materials such as brick, decomposed granite, or gravel used in patios and walk-ways help keep water in the garden rather than in the gutter.
  

• Set automatic timing devices, which allow efficient watering on a schedule suited to each area of the landscape.

More Ways to Save Water in Your Garden

1. Water in the cool parts of the day to cut down on evaporation.
   

2. Add compost to your soil to improve its water-holding capacity.
   

3. Check for and repair leaky hose connections and sprinkler valves.  Small leaks can be very wasteful.
   

4. If you have a lawn, ask your nursery person about low-water-using turf, and raise your lawnmower cutting height.  Longer grass blades help shade each other and cut down on evaporation.
   

5. Don't over water - water only when the soil is dry.
   

6. Water trees and shrubs - which have deep root systems - longer and less frequently than shallow-rooted plants, which require smaller amounts of water more often.
   

7. When planting, remember that smaller-size container plants require less water to become established.

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Low-Water/Drought-Resistant Plants

This list is a good representation of native, low-water consuming plants that are easily available.  Planting native plants will require less water, fertilizer and maintenance than others grown in milder climates.   Please check with your local nursery for their suggestions about what is best suited to your specific area.  Avoid harvesting (or digging up) wild plants.  The disturbance to the ecosystem is irreversible, and most native plants don't transplant well.  Native Plant Guide (Adobe PDF)

Cacti and Succulents

• Barrel Cactus

• Beavertail Cactus

• Desert Agave

• Hedgehog Cactus

• Joshua Tree

• Mojave Tree

• Mojave Yucca

• Prickly Pear

• Silver Cholla

Trees

• Blue Palo Verde

• Catclaw Acacia

• Desert Willow

• Fremont Cottonwood

• Honey Mesquite

• Pinon Pine

• Screwbean Mesquite

• Smoke Tree

Perennials and Vines

• California Fuchsia

• California Wild Grape

• Coyote Melon

• Datura

• Desert Marigold

• Desert Senna

• Dune Primrose

• Globe Mallow

• Penstemon

• Prickly Poppy

• Snapdragon Vine

Bunch Grasses

• Big Galleta

• Deergrass

• Desert Needlegrass

• Indian Ricegrass

• Purple Three-Awn

Shrubs

• Bladderpod

• Brittlebush

• California Buckwheat

• Chuparosa

• Creosote Bush

• Desert Broom

• Desert Lavender

• Desert Milkweed

• Desert Saltbush/Cattle Spinach/Allscale

• Four-winged Saltbush

• Golden Eye

• Jojoba

• Mojave Sage

• Mormon Tea

• Ocotillo

• Paperbag Bush/Bladdersage

• Rubber Rabbitbrush

• White Sage

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How to Diagnose and Fix Leaking Toilets

A leaking toilet can be annoying and wasteful.  To check if your toilet has a leak, place a few drops of food coloring in the tank.  If coloring is seen in the bowl without flushing, you have a leak.  To pinpoint the leak, follow these simple steps:

1. If the tank is not filling with water, the flush ball is not returning to the seat properly.
   
   Solution:
   

   • Check to see if the linkage that connects to the trip lever is hung up.
     

   • If that doesn't work, then the ball needs to be replaced.  A flapper ball can replace a worn flush valve ball.
     

2. If the tank is full of water, and water is flowing into the overflow tube, then the valve is not shutting off correctly.
   
   Solution:
   

   • Lift up on the float ball.  If the water shuts off, then the ball is not sitting properly in the tank.  This could be caused by two things.
     

   • The ball has a leak and is full of water.  Replace with another ball or flapper.
     

   • The float ball needs adjusting.  Use the screw at the base of the rod to lower the float ball so that the water level is 1/2 to 1 inch below the overflow tube.
     

   • If water does not shut off when you lift up on the float ball, then the valve itself need to be repaired or replaced.  Repair kits and new valves with easy to follow instructions are available at local hardware stores.
     

3. If water is not flowing into the overflow tube, but constantly runs or periodically turns on and off, the flush ball or flapper is not fitting snugly into the flush ball seat.  When seats get old they get pitted and allow water to leak past the seal and down the drain.  Minerals and other deposits may also build up on the seat, making it rough.
   
   Solution:
   

   • If worn, replace the flush ball or flapper.
     

   • If the problem persists, the seat can be cleaned with steel wool, covered with a repair seal or replaced.

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Adapted courtesy California Water Service Company.

How can I protect my water quality?

Household chemicals and waste can pollute our water supply if we do not use them correctly and dispose of them properly.  If they are flushed down the drain, they may end up in our groundwater.  And if they are thrown into the garbage and hauled to the landfill, they may be leached, over time, into the soil and water surrounding the landfill.

So what products are considered to be household hazardous waste?

	Outdoors:	pesticides, fungicides, weed killers and pool chemicals.
	Indoors:	ammonia and bleach-based cleaners, aerosol sprays, household polishes, fluorescent lamps, nail polish and remover, medications and syringes.
	Automotive:	anti-freeze, oil and filters, gasoline, wax and auto polishes, auto batteries, engine cleaners and brake fluid.
	Other:	paint (all kinds), paint thinners, wood preservatives, glues and adhesives, solvents and photo chemicals.

You can protect our water quality by using and disposing of household chemicals and waste with care.  Do not throw them in the trash, take them to a hazardous waste collection facility instead.  You can also reduce/eliminate herbicide and pesticide applications as well as recycle used oil and other automotive products.  For more information regarding disposal please call 1-800-OILY-CAT (645-9228).

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