Estimate Your Household Water Use

Home Water Works offers a user-friendly calculator to help you estimate your indoor and outdoor water usage. The tool also compares your household's water use to that of a typical and an efficient household in your zip code.

For more information or to calculate your household water use, click the image below to visit the Home Water Works page.

Home Water Works_How Much Water Do You Use Water Calculator

 

    Practical Water-Saving Tips for Your Kitchen, Bathroom and Laundry 

    In Oregon, about 432 million gallons of water are used every day for domestic use. That is an average of 113 gallons of water per person, according to the National Environmental Education Foundation. 

    Here are some helpful tips to conserve water within your house broken down by the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry. 

    Kitchen

    • Run a full dishwasher instead of handwashing.  If you ditch handwashing and run full loads of dishes instead, you can save 7,000 gallons of water annually.
    • Compost to reduce disposal use.  Save water in both your kitchen and your lawn by composting kitchen scraps at home. Composting is a fully customizable, at-home project, and the end result is a healthy soil feeder for your plants. This crumbly topsoil increases the water holding capacity of sandy soils, ultimately requiring less water for your yard or garden bed 
    • Steam rather than boil vegetables.  Steaming your vegetables saves water and makes your vegetables more nutrient-rich. This is because boiling water causes nutrients to leak out, making your veggies less healthy in the process.
    • Soak rather than rinse your pots and pans.  For items too big or dirty to make it into the dishwasher, skip the rinse and soak them to remove food buildup and stains. Rinsing your pots and pans requires running water, which can use 147 gallons of water per week.

    Bathroom

    • Take quick showers rather than baths.  A full bath uses up to 70 gallons of water. While a 10-minute shower using a low-flow showerhead uses about 25 gallons.
    • Turn off the faucet as you brush.  Turning the faucet off during your teeth cleaning can save 10 gallons of water per day. Use a cup, rather than your hands, to rinse your mouth out once you’ve finished brushing to save even more water.
    • Install a high-efficiency toilet.  Older toilets use anywhere from 3.5 to 7 gallons of water per flush.  Installing a high-efficiency toilet cuts this water use down to 1.28 gallons or less per flush.
    • Check pipes and appliances for leaks regularly.  Don’t waste 105 gallons of water on leaky bathroom appliances. These appliances or pipes leaks are a major waste of water, and the worst part is that you’re not aware you’re using it.
    • Consider installing faucet aerators.  Aerators have the ability to  save your hundreds of gallons of water without sacrificing comfort or water pressure.  
    • Use a toilet displacement device.  Place a plastic bottle or a toilet bank in your toilet tank to reduce the water used per flush. 

    Laundry

    • Use cold water for your washes.  According to ENERGY STAR, your washer uses about 90% of its energy to heat water. Switching your temperature settings from hot to warm can cut energy consumption in half — and shifting from warm to cold can save even more.
    • Run full loads.  Resist the urge to run a laundry load when you have a few dirty items. Running full loads instead of half loads can save 3,400 gallons of water annually, according to the EPA. This habit also requires less work and time in the laundry room.
    • Reuse towels before washing.  Reuse bath and hand towels two or three times before tossing them in the laundry, hanging them to dry in between washes. Blue jeans are another item that doesn’t need to be constantly washed. In fact, they’ll likely last longer the less they see the machine.
    • Upgrade your appliances.  Newer models typically use only about 27 gallons per load while older units can use as much as 54 gallons a load.
    • Hang your clothes on a drying rack.  Consider drying clothes on a clothesline or a drying rack whenever possible. This saves energy, which, in turn, saves the water it takes to produce electricity.

    Conservation Kits

    Salem water customer’s looking for tools to help conserve water within their homes can request a free indoor and/or outdoor water conservation kit.   Kits can be requested by calling Public Works Dispatch at 503-588-6311, sending an email to water@cityofsalem.net or by following the link here.

    Indoor conservation kits include: chrome 1.5 gpm showerhead, 1.0 gpm faucet aerator, Neoperl Bubble Stream Wave Double Swivel Dual Thread Kitchen Aerator, and plumbers tape.

     Indoor Conservation Kit
    Outdoor conservation kits include: Orbit Multi-Pattern Rear Trigger Premium Water Spray Nozzle, Conserve Smart Soil Moisture Meter, Hose Timer, and Niagara Rain Gauge.  Outdoor Conservation Kit
    In additional to the kits, there are several extra items which can be requested.  They include, a Home Water Audit kit, toilet tank bank and Oregon native pollinator seeds. 

    Low Flow Toilet Converter_Toilet Tank Bank   Home Water Audit KitOregon Native Seed Packet

     

     

    Frequently Asked Questions