Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run, when you want a cold glass of water. Did you know that you could refill an 8-oz. glass of water approximately 15,000 times for the same cost as a six-pack of soda?

Little leaks add up in a hurry! A faucet drip that totals only two tablespoons a minute comes to 15 gallons a day. That’s 105 gallons a week or 5,460 wasted gallons of water a year.

Don’t let the faucet run when you scrub vegetables or prepare other foods. Put a stopper in the sink instead.

Do not use running water to thaw meat or other frozen foods. Defrost food overnight in the refrigerator or by using the defrost setting on your microwave.

Start a compost pile! Garbage disposals require lots of water to operate properly. Composting scraps will also reduce demand on our landfills and wastewater reclamation facilities.

Automatic dishwashers claim the most water in kitchens, about 14 gallons per load. Running dishwashers after 10:00 pm also helps reduce the demand on the water treatment facility during peak hours. For more information on water efficient dishwashers, try the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Dishwashers page.

Fill your dishwasher full because it will use the same amount of water for a normal cycle, whether it contains a full load of dishes or just a few items. Also, there’s really no need to fully wash dishes before loading in the dishwasher. Just scrape the food off and let the dishwasher do the rest of thework.

When it’s time to replace your dishwasher look for the most water efficient ones. A dishwasher with a water-saver function uses 8.5 gallons/load, which is 5.5 gallons per load less than a standard dishwasher.

If you wash dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running for rinsing. If you have two sinks, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you have only one sink, gather washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a sprayer or a pan full of hot water.

Make sure there is an aerator installed on your faucet. The way a faucet aerator works is by reducing the water flow that comes out of the faucet by essentially mixing the water with air. You won't notice the difference in the amount of water when you use it. In fact, the water pressure may even feel stronger after the aerator is installed. Meanwhile, the aerator is allowing you to save on your water usage by about half! If you do the math, you can probably save about 280 gallons of water a month. Plus, when you use less water, you use less oil or gas to heat that water. This gives you even more savings.  There are different types of faucet aerators, and they are all pretty inexpensive, and can be purchased for less than $2. You may already have faucet aerators installed, but you want to make sure that they are the most efficient. All faucet aerators come with the flow rate imprinted on its side. You want faucet aerators with 2.75 gpm. The gmp stands for gallons per minute. For most faucets, aerators can be installed by simply screwing them on the end of the faucet by hand.