Your House and Water

1. Your House and Water • Water is used every day at home, both in the house and in the yard. How we use this water has impacts beyond those we can see at home. It effects the health of our streams and lakes. • A shower uses about 30 gallons of water. • Flushing a toilet uses about 3-5 gallons of water. • Washing clothes uses about 30 gallons for one load of laundry. • Washing the dishes uses about 15 gallons when cleaned in a dishwasher. • How often we do these things controls how much water we use around the house. Water that is used and then put down the drain finds its way though pipes to the wastewater treatment plant.

2. Your Yard and Water • How we use water in our yard also impacts our streams and lakes. Did you know that watering the lawn uses about 240 gallons of water in 30 minutes? Imagine how much water it takes to water a golf course! • Fertilizers and pesticides are often added to household lawns. These unnatural chemicals get caught within the flow of water when it rains. So what we see going down storm drains probably has toxic chemicals found within it. These storm drains use to lead directly into lakes and rivers, but now because of more strict laws on pollution most of that water goes into the wastewater treatment plant and then into the rivers.

3. What’s the Big Deal? • Fish, birds, and mammals are all affected by polluted waters. This pollution can come from our homes and yards, over use of water can also cause problems for a river or lake by lowering the levels and drying out some areas which are usually wet and so support animal species that like it wet. When it dries out, those species loose the habitat they live in and are forced to move or suffer and possibly die. How would you like it if you were a fish and swam in dirty polluted waters and then it dried up and there was nowhere for you to go? You can’t live on land, what would happen to you?

4. What Can I Do? • There are many things that we can do to prevent household water pollution and the over use of water. • Water the lawn at night when the sun isn’t so bright. This will limit the amount of water lost to evaporation. • Ask your parents not to add chemical fertilizers or pesticides around your house. Not only do they harm the water and animal life in the rivers and lakes, but they can harm humans too. Especially children.

5. What Else Can I Do? • Turn the water off when you brush your teeth. • Turn the water off when you soap yourself up in the shower, you can always turn it back on when you need to! • Hand washing your dishes uses less water than using a dishwasher. • Add a gallon of water into the toilet tank, this will save a gallon each time you flush the toilet. Or, don’t flush after you pee. Your mom may get on you at first, but tell her your saving water and tell her this poem: • If it’s yellow, let it mellow. • If it’s brown, flush it down.

6. More Information to Be a Water Saver! • http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/NPS/whatudo.html • http://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring/nationswaters/ • http://www.lakechamplaincenter.org • http://www.lcbp.org/kid.htm • www.geocities.com/Rainforest/5161wwlinks.htm