| City of Fairmont MN Public Utilities - Water Conservation Tips |
|
|
|
Gopher State One: Pay your utility bills on-line Intro To Fairmont's Waste Water Treatment Facility (pdf) 2010 Drinking Water Report (pdf) Water Plant Preliminary 60% Design Drawings - January 2011 (pdf - huge) |
Water Conservation Tips Tips for Saving Water IndoorsVerify that your home is leak free. Read your water meter before and after a two hour period when no water is being used. If the meter reading changes, you have a leak somwhere in your home. Find it and fix it. Repair dripping faucets. A faucet dripping at one drop per second will waste 2700 gallons per year. Is your toilet leaking? To determine if it is, add a few drops of food coloing to the toilet tank and wait 30 minutes. Check to see if the color shows up in the toilet bowl. It it does, your toilet tank is leaking. Leaking toilets will waste 200 gallons of more of water per day. Don't let water run needlessly when you are washing dishes, shaving or brushing your teeth. Take shorter showers. Keeping your shower to less than 5 minutes can save up to 1000 gallons per month. Run your dishwasher and washing machine only when completely full. Install low flow faucets, shower heads and low flow toilets. Use the garbage disposal minimally and compst instead. Garbage disposals use a lot of water to work properly. Do not use running water to thaw meats or other frozen foods. Defrost frozen foods overnight in the refrigerator or use the defrost setting on your microwave. Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water. Tips for Saving Water Outside Water lawns before 8 am and after 8 pm. Don't water during the hottest time of the day or when it's windy. You will lost most of the water you are applying to evaporation. Only water your lawn every three to five days. To determine if your lawn needs watering, simply walk across your lawn and if you leave foot prints, it's time to water. Don't over water your lawn. To determine how much water you are applying, place a pan on your lawn when you are watering to measure how much is being applied. Lawns only need one inch of water per week. When washing your car, use a shut off nozzle on your garden hose to control your water flow. A garden hose running continuously will use 15 gallons per minute. Wash your car on your lawn - this way you will also be watering your lawn the same time you are washing your car. Use mulch to retain moisture around your landscape plants. Mulch helps control the weeds that complete with your plants for water. Use a broom or blower instead of a hose to clean leaves and other debris from your driveway and sidewalk. Don'tcut your grass too short. Raise the lawn mover blade to at least 3 inches or higher. Longer grass encourages grass roots to grow deeper, shades the root system and holds soil moisture. You can use your Internet to find more water conservation tips by searching for "water conservation tips for the home." |