Did you know that only 2% of the earth’s water is available for drinking? And 1% of that water is frozen.

Every day in the United States, we drink about 110 million gallons of water and the average American uses 140-170 gallons of water per day.

When it comes to water conservation, every last drop really does count; one drop of water per second can add up to 5 gallons per day.

Here are 5 more ways you can do to easily reduce your water consumption:

• Store drinking water in the refrigerator is a better idea than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water.
• Turn off faucets tightly after each use. As mentioned previously, one drip a second can add up to five gallons a day.
• Adjust your setting on your washing machine to the proper size load OR wait for a full load. About 22% of indoor water use comes from doing the laundry. Most front-loading machines are water efficient, using just over 20 gallons a load. However, most top-loading machines, unless they are energy-efficient, it may use up to 40 gallons of water per load.
• Wash your fruits and vegetables in a large pot rather than letting the tap run.
• Use the dishwasher. Surprisingly using a machine is actually more water efficient than hand washing, especially if you run full loads. Dishwashers use about 4-6 gallons of water per load whereas hand washing generally uses about 20 gallons of water each time. Although dishwashing is a relatively small part of your water footprint—less than 2% of your household use, but even a small difference will eventually make a big difference.

Remember, water is life.

So be water smart and do your part, reduce your use.