Water Conservation

State of Maryland, Carroll County, and City of Westminster urge residents to conserve water

Westminster, as well as most of the surrounding area, has experienced decreased rainfall over the last few months. Water conservation is always important, but much more so at this time. The City of Westminster is urging all users of the City's water system to voluntarily reduce their water usage.

Here are some things you can do today to make a difference:

Indoor Water Conservation 

• Don’t leave the water running while shaving or brushing teeth.  Leaving the tap running can waste up to 4 gallons of water per person, per day.
• Never pour water down the drain when there may be another use for it.  Capture the cold water that runs while you wait for your shower or bath to warm up and use it to water plants in your home, yard, or garden.
• Showers use less water than baths, but a typical shower still uses about 20 gallons of water.  By taking shorter showers, you can save a lot of water.
• If you must use a tub, close the drain before turning on the water and fill the tub only half full. Bathe small children together.
• Turn off the water flow while soaping or shampooing.
• Using a dishwasher saves and average of 15 gallons of water per load over handwashing.  If you do use a dishwasher, only run when it is fully loaded.
• If you must handwash dishes, then rinse all soapy dishes at once or fill a basin with rinse water and use that instead.   Letting your faucet run for five minutes while washing dishes can waste 10 gallons of water.  
• Scrape rather than rinse dishes before loading into the dishwasher.
• When thawing foods, place in the refrigerator overnight rather than running under water or soaking.
• Keep drinking water in the refrigerator instead of letting the faucet run until the water is cold.
• When using the washing machine, only wash full loads or reduce the water level for smaller loads.

Outdoor Water Conservation

• Sweep driveways, sidewalks, and steps rather than washing them off with a garden hose
• Eliminate the use of automatic watering devices like sprinklers
• Reuse wasted indoor water for outdoor plants and landscaping (see above)
• Use a pool cover to reduce evaporation when swimming pool is not in use
• Eliminate or reduce topping off swimming pools
• Eliminate or reduce car washing

Every Drop Counts! Following these tips to help us all preserve our water resources.