At my house, we have to let the water run a bit before it gets hot, for washing some dishes or running a bath or shower.

I save plastic milk and/or juice containers and catch the water that would ordinarily go down the drain that isn't hot yet.

I use that water for the bird bath or my cats drinking water or for my house plants even for the tea kettle for a cup of green tea after dinner.

You'd be surprised how much goes down the drain! I usually collect two to three gallons a day!

T. Hager

We keep a large mixing bowl in the kitchen sink to catch water from rinsing dishes, washing hands and other things we run water for.

The bowl fills up about five to six times a day and Howard takes the bowl out and waters our various shrubs and flowers.

This saves about a gallon each time the bowl fills

Howard & Anne Montgomery

I would like to share with you some of the ways that our family is helping to save water.

We are using paper plates, flushing the toliets less, taking shorter showers, not leaving water running when we brush our teeth or shave, use smaller cups, we are handwashing our dishes, doing bigger loads of laundry and not using ice in our drinks.

Drew Piercy--Age 11

Turning off the water while brushing my teeth. Taking shorter showers.

Keith Hunter

We use a bucket to collect the 'wait for the shower water to get hot' and pour it into the bowl to flush the toilet.

Bob Stuckey

Our family has begun to place five gallon buckets into the shower, so that as the water warms up, the run-off is captured in the buckets.

I then take that water outside to water our trees and plants.

Typically, the buckets fill anywhere from half to almost full.

As there are five of us in this household, that's a good bit of water for our trees!

Molly Snyder

We have put five gallon buckets in our showers to catch the water wasted while the water heats up and any water that the bucket might catch while showering.

We have used that water to water our plants outside.

We have also been taking 'Navy showers.' Wet down, soap up, rinse off. Tammy Canipe

We've installed a hot water pump that pushes hot water to the shower in less than 10 sec. No wasting water waiting until it gets hot.

Also, adding a standard brick to the supply tank of your toilet will use about a third-of-a-gallon less per flush.

David

When I wash my hands, I wet them, turn the water off, soap them up for as long as I want, turn the water back on and rinse them.

Also, when I take a shower, I wet my body, wash my face, then turn the water off, wash my body with the soap, turn the water back on, and rinse myself.

I follow the same process when shampooing my hair in the shower.

In this way, gallons of water are saved.

Fran Newton

When I turn the faucet on at the tub to regulate the temperature for my shower; I save that water in a bucket to flush my toilet.

You would be surprised how much water goes down the drain waiting for the water to get hot.

I guess you could water your plants with it also.

Pebbles Little

Take an empty plastic gallon milk jug, put some stones to cover the bottom of the jug, then fill the jug with water and cap it.

Put it in the toilet tank, so whenever you flush, you don't need near as much water to fill up the tank.

John & Jane Cutchin

Three minute showers, being in the Navy taught me this.

One minute or less to soak, turn off water.

Lather down with a preferred moisturizing body soap and soap loofah for a minute. The loofah lathers up well.

Last minute rinse.

David Bryant

Instead shaving in the shower, men and women, you can shave by the sink before taking a shower.

Just fill up the sink a little bit with water.

Showering will go a lot faster and water will be saved.

Nicole

After years of showering last after my wife and three kids and having no hot water, I would get wet, cut the water off, lather up, then cut the water back on to rinse.

It saves a lot of water when showering!

Ronnie Hatley

I keep a bucket in the shower and while the water is heating up I collect the cold water and then push it to the side.

It collects about two gallons per shower which is four gallons a day for two people.

Then, I take the water and water my flowers/shrubs.

Nicole

I am using dish water and bath water for my flowers.

That's about 20 gallons of recycled water a day.

I plan to continue this from now on, even after the drought is over.

Terry Wilkes

Our master bath is the farthest location from the hot water heater in the garage.

It takes approximately three quarts of water flow before the hot water arrives in the master bath.

We collect this water in a bucket instead of letting it go down the drain until hot water arrives.

We save about two gallons of water a day and use it to water our flowers.

We are saving about 60 gallons of water per month using this simple method and are not using additional water to water flowers.

Phil Rinker

I put a clean five gallon bucket into my bathtub to catch the water while I regulate the water to the right temperature.

It is amazing how much water it seems to take before the water is hot enough to use, sometimes two to three gallons.

I use most of the water to water my plants.

Peggy Furr