It’s easy to use up a lot of water without realizing it. Here’s just a few ways you can save. Also see our WAYS TO SAVE ON YOUR WATER BILL

• By replacing your old clothes washer with a high-efficiency washing machine, you can reduce water consumption from 40 gallons per load to less than 28 gallons per load.
• Run only full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher. Saves 300 to 800 gallons per month.
• Compost rather than use a garbage disposal. Saves 5 gallons per minute of use
• The average bathroom faucet runs about 2 gallons of water per minute. Try running water at less than full flow. Turn the water off while you floss and brush your teeth, which can save 3 gallons per day.
• A full bathtub requires about 70 gallons of water, while taking a five-minute shower under a low-flow showerhead uses 10-25 gallons.
• Install water-saving shower heads or flow restrictors. Saves 500 to 800 gallons per month.
• Shorten your showers. Even a one or two-minute reduction can save up to 700 gallons per month.
• Inside the home, water use is pretty evenly distributed among appliances, but nearly 30 percent is flushed down the toilet. Avoid unnecessary flushing and you’ll save big.
• You can also save thousands of gallons each year by replacing old toilets with ultra-low-flow toilets that use 1.3 gallons per flush or less (rather than 1.6+ gallons per flush).
• Every home, apartment, and business has… or should have… a master valve that controls water service. Locate your master valve so you can find it in an emergency. Consider turning it off when you go out of town. That way, drips or leaks won’t surprise you when you return.
• Skip the home car wash. Save 5 gallons per minute of use
• Capture tap water. While you wait for hot water to come down the pipes, catch the flow in a watering can to use later on house plants or your garden. Saves 200 to 300 gallons per month.
• Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. This beats the wasteful habit of running tap water to cool it for drinking. Saves 200 to 300 gallons a month.
• When washing dishes by hand, use the least amount of detergent possible. This minimizes rinse water needed. Saves 50 to 150 gallons a month.
• If you wash dishes by hand—and that’s the least expensive way—don’t leave the water running for rinsing. If you have two sinks, fill one with rinse water. If you only have one sink, use a spray device or short blasts instead of letting the water run. Saves 200 to 500 gallons a month.

Common customer complaints or inquiries involve water pressure… either too high or too low. Crystal Springs can alleviate some causes, but if only one area in your home exhibits symptoms of high or low pressure, the cause may lie within your plumbing system. Low flow or volume may be increased by cleaning aerator screens or water saving devices. The restrictions caused by older galvanized pipe buildup may be more costly to fix.

Occasionally, the pressure regulator installed at the meter fails and allows main line pressure past the meter and into your service line. The District is responsible for the maintenance and replacement of a regulator which is installed in front of the meter to prevent meter damage due to high pressure. It is recommended that each customer install a regulator on his/her side of the meter to prevent potential damage to customer property.

An unusually strong burst of water when the faucet is turned on or fluctuations in pressure while the water is running are both possible indications of a regulator problem. A common symptom of high pressure is a hot water heater pop-off valve which will not seat** and leaks a little or a lot. A temporary fix for the hot water heater pop-off is to open a cold water faucet enough to reduce the pressure and stop the flow of hot water through the pop-off. (Another condition which mimics the high pressure caused by a faulty regulator is thermal expansion. This is caused by rapid heating within the water heater which may cause a surge of excess (steam) pressure when the faucet is first opened, or may cause the pop-off valve to release. Thermal expansion may be caused by an improperly operating water heater. Crystal Springs does not maintain or repair hot water heaters.)

** Be certain that your pop-off overflow is plumbed to an outside drain… to prevent water damage to your floors and furnishings.

Low pressure can be caused by particle buildup in the screen which restricts flow through the regulator. A leak or break in your own service line may also reduce the pressure inside your house. You can rule out a leak by checking your meter, to see if it moves when you’re not using water.

When the pressure is excessively low, a container takes forever to fill, and sometimes water can not be used at two faucets at the same time. Most District regulators are set between 55-60 pounds per square inch (PSI).

If you suspect a pressure problem, call Crystal Springs before you incur the expense of a plumber. The regulator can be adjusted, rebuilt or replaced at no expense to you. In most cases, high/low pressure is not an emergency condition, so please leave a voice mail message, or call during normal working hours (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM weekdays).

A few things you can do yourself:

• Close foundation vents with insulation material.
• Shut off and drain outside domestic water faucets and protect them with insulated covers.
• If the temperature dips below freezing for more than a day, you may want to leave a cold water faucet (at the furthest point in your system) running a tiny stream overnight.  (Excess use will not qualify for leak relief.)  Also, open cabinet doors under sinks to allow room temperature to reach the pipes.
• If pipes should freeze, be extremely careful when thawing frozen pipes.  Use a hair dryer or heat tape wrapped around the pipes, rather than an open flame, which could cause a fire.

The faucet probably has a clogged aerator, which is blocking the free flow of water. The aerator is a small filtering device that screws into the end of the faucet.  Aerators sometimes become clogged with minerals, such as calcium and iron compounds, from the water that flows through.

Here’s how to restore the free flow of water:

• With the faucet turned off, the aerator must be unscrewed from the end of the faucet (turn it counterclockwise). It usually protrudes only slightly, so getting a grip strong enough to turn out the aerator can be difficult. Wearing a rubber glove can improve the grip. If the aerator still won’t turn, use pliers to grip it lightly. Pad the jaws of the pliers with a few turns of masking tape to avoid damaging the aerator.
• Handle the aerator carefully, because it contains several small parts that must be kept in the correct order. An aerator can sometimes be cleaned simply by flushing it under a stream of water or picking out debris with a toothpick, but the best bet is to disassemble it.
• Soak the parts (usually a screen, a perforated disk and a washer in addition to the aerator shell) for an hour or so in vinegar. The vinegar will dissolve most mineral deposits. Rinse the parts and reassemble in the correct order.

Under federal law, toilets must not exceed 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf). High-efficiency toilets (HETs) go beyond the standard and use less than 1.3 gpf. The WaterSense label will be used on HETs that are certified by in-dependent laboratory testing to meet rigorous criteria for both performance and efficiency.