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 Automatic
clothes washing machines account for about 20% of total water
use in the home. There are three ways to save water while
washing your clothes:
PURCHASING A WATER- AND ENERGY-
EFFICIENT CLOTHES WASHER
Traditional top-loading clothes washers
use between 32 and 50 gallons per load, depending on design.
About 40 gallons per load is typical. Shop for a model that
uses less water, and make sure that it has settings for using
less water when washing partial loads.
If you can afford one of the newer front-loading
clothes washers, you may find them to be a good investment.
These machines tumble your clothes through a smaller quantity
of water, rather than using an agitator. Most front-loaders
today use about 24 gallons per load, or about 40% less water.
They also use less energy and detergent, and discharge less
water into your sewer pipe. Thus, you can save on your water,
sewer, energy, and detergent bills. There are claims that
front-loaders are gentler on fabrics, prolonging the life
of your clothes.
OPERATING YOUR CLOTHES WASHER TO MINIMIZE
WATER USE
The most important way to save water when
washing your clothes is to only wash a full load. If you must
wash a partial load, see if your machine allows the water
level to be adjusted to fit the size of the wash load. Simply
by adjusting the water level to correspond to the load size
may easily save as much as 12 gallons per week, especially
if many smaller loads are washed.
Since many of today=s detergents wash as
well in warm or cold water as they do when used with hot water,
temperature level setting features have become almost standard.
Washing clothes in warm or cold water won=t reduce your water
bill, but it will result in lower energy bills, not to mention
being easier on the clothes.
Another
way to save water while washing your clothes is to re-use
the water generated by washing clothes.
Click
here for more information on gray water re-use.
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