In Tooele County, we know about heat in July and we are getting a taste of it. With heat comes a need for water, and a cold drink is very welcome now. Our water needs are ongoing, but most noticeable in the hot summer months when precipitation is very limited.

We are arguably better off this year than last — at least according to the moisture we received last winter — but it is still summer as usual in the desert. Summer as usual means, of course, that we need to conserve water. The extra snowfall we got for just one winter will not make up for several years of drought, so conservation practices are still needed. Some things never change, it seems.

We need to conserve water outdoors as I wrote about in last week’s “Garden Spot” but there are also many ways to conserve water inside the house.

Where do you suppose we use the most water inside our homes? In the laundry room? The kitchen?

Did you know that the average U.S. household of four uses 150 gallons of water a day in their bathroom alone? That amounts to a whopping 75 percent of indoor water usage.

So what can we do to cut our water use? “Plenty,” say the experts. Here is where you can reduce that 4,500-plus gallons per month.

Reduce water use

• Switch to low flow shower heads which save 500 to 800 gallons of water a month. Low-flow showerheads save 40 to 50 percent. Older nozzles will quickly fill a tub to its 30-gallon capacity.

• 30 gallons of water will fill a bathtub. We’ve all heard that taking a bath requires more water than a shower but, of course, it depends on how long that shower takes. Those people who take 20 to 30 minute showers use lots of water. Limit shower time to about five minutes or less.

• Cutting one minute from your shower can save 700 gallons a month. For maximums savings, turn on the shower to get wet, turn off the water, soap up and turn the shower back on to rinse. If you are really diligent, some have suggested putting buckets in the shower to catch water that doesn’t even hit the body and use it for cleaning or for watering plants. That relaxing 10 minutes of shower time after you have rinsed off the soap can waste up to 100 gallons of water.

• Install water-saving shower heads or flow restrictors. Most shower heads put out 5 to 10 gallons of water a minute, while 3 gallons is actually enough for a refreshing cleansing shower. Your local hardware or plumbing supply store stocks inexpensive water-saving shower heads that you can install yourself. For even less money, you can purchase a small plastic insert that will limit flow through your present shower head.

It is easy to make a rule about shower times but it can be hard to enforce it. One help is to buy water-saving shower heads or put timers on the shower that turn off the hot water in so many minutes.

• Putting a brick or milk jug full of water into the toilet tank will save 8 to 20 gallons per person each day. Put in a low-water use toilet and save even more. An ultra low flush toilet can save up to 3 gallons of water per flush.

• Stop using your toilet as a wastebasket. Every time you flush facial tissue or other small bits of trash down the toilet, you waste 5 to 7 gallons of water.)

• Taking 10 or so minutes to fix a leaking faucet will save 600 gallons a month.

• Fix a leaking toilet.

• Turning the water off while you brush your teeth saves 3 gallons each time you brush.

• Rinse your razor in the sink. Before shaving, partially fill your sink with a few inches of warm water. This will rinse your blade just as efficiently as running water, and far less wastefully.

Those are some simple and straightforward methods to cut your water use and therefore your water bill — just in the bathroom.

Utah’s population is steadily increasing. It is projected that by 2035, Utah will have 4 million residents. In order to meet the needs of ourselves and future residents, we need to do our part to use our water wisely.

Much of what we do routinely requires water and we can follow some simple guidelines to cut down on overuse. Often we use more water than is needed through thoughtlessness. We don’t stop to consider how much water we are using every day. We do not have to go to the stream or the well, bring up buckets and haul it into the house, so we forget how much we are using. We simply flip on the faucet and presto, there it is.

Use water wisely

• 30 gallons of water to wash one load of laundry. Adjust the water level to match the load size. Doing full loads is more efficient than half-size loads. Use water-efficient laundry equipment for even better savings

• 15 gallons of water will wash a load of dishes in an average dishwasher. (Again, a half load takes just as much as a full load. Water efficient dishwashers save water. Wash only when the dishwasher has accumulated a full load and use rinse and hold cycles which use less water than running the tap over dishes. If your dishwasher is doing a less than stellar job of cleaning unrinsed dishes, scrape the dishes first to get rid of large scraps, then put a little water in the bottom of the sink to rinse them in rather than letting the water run.

• In the laundry room, adjust your laundry habits to save water. Always wash full loads of clothes or adjust the washing machine to handle a small load when a large load is not feasible. Washers use a great deal of water. You can save up to 20 gallons of water per wash load just by adjusting the water level to fit the size load we are washing at a time. Save a little more energy money by always rinsing on cold.

• 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 but one sink, gather all the washed dishes in the dish rack and rinse them with an inexpensive spray device.

• 10 gallons of water to prepare a meal. Could you put some water in a pan to wash the potatoes? Install aerators to your tap and use a sink stopper when washing dishes.

• 100 gallons of water to wash a car. Why not use a bucket of soapy water to do the main part of the wash then rinse quickly and save some water in the process?

• Running water until it gets cold wastes a gallon or more. If you like cold water to drink, keep a pitcher in the refrigerator. Some people prefer water that has been stored in glass bottles as it is less likely to take on the taste of the jar.

Note that none of the above suggestions require cutting out the water-using activity or any real sacrifice. It just requires us to think as we act. Keep the problem in mind, and you’ll likely find yourself conserving automatically. Teaching your kids to think conservatively will save you cash and will save water for all of us. And think of the dollars that don’t go down the drain.