Have you ever thought about how much fresh water you use in your home in a day? According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the average American household uses more than 300 gallons of water every day. That equals almost 120,000 gallons per year or about 1 million pounds of water for every household across the country. (We’re lucky we don’t have to carry the water from wells to our houses anymore!)

I had the good fortune to live on a boat in south Florida and to also live in the Florida Keys. Both places had no fresh surface or ground water. Until the Navy allowed the public to use its water pipeline stretching from wells in the Everglades to its base at Key West after World War II, the only freshwater in the Florida Keys was gathered by cisterns. And of course, there is no water on any boat (unless created by a very expensive water maker).

Because freshwater was the limiting factor on our boat offshore and because of its high cost in the Florida Keys, we had to reduce our usage of fresh water dramatically. We were able to limit our use of freshwater on our boat to 10 gallons per person per day. There were two adults and three teenagers aboard the boat, so we used a total of just 50 gallons of water per day. That is only 17% of the 300 gallons per day used by the average American household.

But to minimize our water usage to that level required taking some extreme measures. Showers were “rinse, wash and rinse,” washing dishes was done in the sink using the same system, brushing your teeth was done with just a small glass of water and only full loads of laundry were washed in the washing machine, among other measures.

The good news is you do not have to go to such extremes to substantially reduce your use of fresh water. Consumer Reports says that household water usage can be cut in half simply by replacing water-wasting appliances and being conscious of how you can conserve water in your daily activities. There are many ways you can save water without buying new appliances. For example, don’t leave the water running while you’re brushing your teeth or shaving, wash only full loads of laundry, install an inexpensive aerator on your kitchen sink reducing water flow to less than one gallon an hour, soak pots and pans instead of scrubbing them and refrigerate your drinking water instead of allowing the faucet to run until it cools. (https://www.consumerreports.org/water-conservation/how-to-cut-your-water-use-in-half-a1121517078/)

Note that the adjacent EPA pie chart summarizing household’s indoor water use shows 12% of the water is lost simply to leaks. Checking your fixtures and water pipe system for leaks is another easy way to save money and minimize water usage.(https://www.epa.gov/watersense/how-we-use-water)

The EPA’s WaterSense program says that outdoor water use accounts for 30% of household use and can be even higher in water intensive landscapes. If your house has gutters, using inexpensive rain barrels to collect water to use in your yard will both save money and conserve the public drinking water supply. Using native plants in your landscape, which are naturally hardy, is another great way to reduce outdoor water use.

Here in the Boothbay region, our public water supply comes exclusively from two small, shallow lakes – Adams Pond and Knickerbocker Lake. As more and more people come to Boothbay over the coming years, residents and visitors alike, we will need more and more water. Anything householders can do now to conserve our public water supply will ensure the continued economic growth of our community.