Simple Tips

Tips for saving water inside your home
Learn about more water conservation tips and estimate daily and annual water use with the water calculator on the Alliance for Water Efficiency's Home Water Works website.

Efficient landscape irrigation

Here are ways to make sure you water efficiently—no matter if you use an automated sprinkler system or water by hand and hose. Quick links:

Six things everyone should know about watering efficiently
How to: Automated irrigation systems
Video how-tos: for automated irrigation systems
Tips: If you water by hand and hose

Six things everyone should know about watering efficiently

Apply only enough water to moisten the root zone of your plants (6 to 8 inches deep), then allow the soil to dry before watering again. This means: In clay soils, water no more than one inch per week. This is enough to moisten your plants' roots. In thin Hill Country soils, apply a maximum of ½ inch of water twice a week. See recommended water schedule.
Water when the sun is down. No sun and less wind means that the water reaches the roots of your plants rather than evaporating before it hits the ground.
Use low-angle sprinklers that produce droplets of water. Sprinklers that spray water high into the air or produce a mist lose water through evaporation.
Use multiple start times or a "cycle and soak" feature. This allows water to be applied a little at a time, eliminating run-off, and is especially helpful for sloped areas and areas with clay soil.
Aim before you shoot: Direct sprinklers toward your lawn and away from sidewalks and driveways.
Use drip irrigation for shrub beds, gardens and trees. Drip irrigation systems apply water directly to the root, where it does the most good, and reduces water loss from evaporation. Make sure you slow the flow so the water has time to soak into our region's tight clay and caliche soils —instead of running off.

Watering Do

DO use a drip irrigation or soaker hose to water shrubs and trees.

Watering Don't

DON'T operate an automated irrigation system with broken sprinkler heads; it will waste water and cost you money.

How to: Automated irrigation systems

Hire a licensed irrigator if you decide to install a watering system. The irrigator should be familiar with hydrozoning (see box at right) and the most water-efficient irrigation technology. Want to find out whether the irrigator is licensed? Use the search tool from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Use a rain sensor. Wireless rain sensors are a convenient way to save up to 30 percent on outdoor watering by automatically turning off your system when it rains. Be sure to place your rain sensor in an open area.
Change your watering schedule seasonally. Your yard requires less supplemental irrigation during cool and wet seasons. Visit your controller box at least four times a year to adjust your schedule.
Set your controller to start watering sometime between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.
See video how-tos and 10 things to know about your automated sprinkler system.
For more information about your particular irrigation controller, you can download the instruction manual from the manufacturer's Web site. Here are some links to controller manuals for several common irrigation systems:

Tips if you water by hand and hose

Use a hose timer. It can simplify watering — and save you water and money.
Try to finish watering by 10 a.m. — to limit evaporation.
Don't forget: Six tips everyone should know about watering efficiently.

Watering Do

DO: A hose timer can simplify watering — and save water.

Watering Don't

DON'T: This shows an improperly installed sprinkler head. The bushes block the stream of water, so the rest of bed and lawn will not receive any water.

Tips for saving water inside your home

You can make a difference

Also take an online tour to learn ways to save water in each area of your home.

Bathroom

Bathroom use accounts for about 75 percent of the water used inside the home.

Check regularly for any leaks in your toilet, faucets and water hose bibs and fix them. Water saved: up to 200 gallons per day.
Install a low-flow showerhead. Water saved: about 2 gallons per minute.
Replace older, larger-use toilets with the newer higher efficiency toilets. Water saved: .5 to 5 gallons per flush.
Take short showers and save the baths for special occasions. Water saved: 2 to 5 gallons per minute.

Kitchen

About 8 percent of in-home water use takes place in the kitchen.

Don't rinse dishes before loading dishwasher. Water saved: 20 gallons per load.
Wash only full loads in the dishwasher. An efficient dishwasher usually uses much less water than washing dishes by hand.
Install a low-flow faucet aerator, which can cut water use in half. Water saved: 1 to 2 gallons per minute.
When buying a new dishwasher, consider purchasing a water-saving model. (New models use up to 25 percent less water than older ones.) Water saved: 3 gallons per load.

Around the house

Wash only full loads in the clothes washer. Washing small loads uses over twice as much water per pound of laundry.
When buying a new clothes washer, consider purchasing a water-saving model. Water saved: up to 40 gallons per load.
Insulate hot water pipes where possible to avoid long delays (and wasted water) while waiting for the water to "run hot." When building a new home, keep the distance short between the hot water heater and showers and other places that hot water is used.

Think you've sprung a leak?

How to check for a water leak.
Download LCRA's Household Leak Detection and Repair brochure. (Help downloading PDF documents.)

Outdoor

See our landscape irrigation tips for how to water efficiently, and our gardening page for tips on preparing your garden to withstand hot Texas summers by doing things such as applying mulch and compost.

Contact us

For more information on LCRA's water conservation programs or publications, please call (512) 473-3200, Ext. 2114 or, toll free at 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 2114, or e-mail Water Conservation.