Water Conservation Tips  
The following water conservation tips are provided by the City of Blythe as a service to the citizens. We hope the following tips will allow our citizens to lower their monthly water bill and to conserve one of our most valuable resources, water.

• Check to see how often your home water softening equipment regenerates and backwashes. It can use as much as 100 gallons of water each time it does this. Reserve softened water for kitchen use, bathing, and laundry. Use unsoftened water for all other purposes.
• Use your water meter to help detect leaks by turning off everything in the house that uses water. Check the water meter reading, and then check it again an hour later. If it hasn’t moved, you have a watertight system. If it has, start checking hose connections, toilets, faucets, etc. If your household meter registers in 100-gallon increments, you will need to leave the water off for longer than an hour to detect leaks.
• Repair water faucet leaks. A faucet that leaks one drop per second wastes 2,400 gallons of water each year.
• Letting the water run while doing everyday chores like washing dishes, peeling potatoes, or cleaning kitchen countertops, and appliances can easily use up to 33 gallons of water at a time.
• Only operate your clothes and dishwasher when you have a full load. Whenever possible use the low water level feature on these appliances. 
• Two-thirds of water used in an average home is used in the bathroom. To conserve water in the bathroom, take a short shower instead of a bath. Install a showerhead flow control device that can cut the flow from 15 gallons of water per minute down to three gallons per minute.
• Don’t use the toilet as a garbage can. Whenever possible use the trash to dispose of used facial tissues, gum wrappers, lint, cigarette butts, etc. Using the toilet to dispose of these items is a waste of water and contaminates water needlessly.   
• When replacing toilets, look for a “low volume” model that uses less water per flush. Until the toilet is replaced, a water filled, capped, quart sized plastic bottle (not glass) placed in the toilet tank will reduce the amount of water used per flush by about one-fourth of a gallon.
• Check the toilet for leaks. Put a few drops of food coloring in the tank. Wait 15 to 30 minutes. If colored water appears in the bowl without flushing, there’s a leak and repairs are needed.
• The greatest misuse of water outdoors is to wash driveways, sidewalks, and gutters with a hose. Using a push broom will eliminate this type of waste.
• When washing vehicles, use one bucket of water for soaping and one for rinsing. Keep your car waxed for easy washing.
• Lawn sprinkling and landscape irrigation often consumes two or three times more water than is used indoors. Landscape with native plants not requiring irrigation and/or replace some lawn with gravel, stone, bark, or paving.
• Much of the water applied to the lawn is lost because of poor application practices, high evaporation, uneven distribution, and excessive runoff. Early morning is the best time to water. The least demand for water is placed on the municipal system at this time, wind and evaporation losses are low, and application efficiency and distribution are greatest. Consider installing an underground sprinkler system. About 1.0 inch of water is needed per week in spring and fall and 1.5 inches per week in summer.     
• Raise mowing height to 2.5 inches from June 15 to August 30; avoid fertilizing in July and August; and aerify lawns in April and/or September to minimize compaction and improve rooting.
• This won’t help you reduce your water bill at home but will conserve water. Ask waiters at restaurants not to serve you water if you aren’t gong to drink it.