Saving water indoors
What's happening
Currently, Stage 1 Outdoor Water Restrictions are still in effect, but beginning August 26 and running through most of September, The City will be completing urgent repairs of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main to maintain the health and stability of Calgary’s water system. During this time, we’ll be in Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions and will be asking Calgarian to limit their indoor water use.
Find out more about the repairs![](/content/dam/www/uep/water/publishingimages/water-main-break-2024/business-restrictions-info-box.jpg)
Top three ways to help save water indoors
When repairs begin on the Bearspaw South Feeder Main on August 26, we're asking Calgarians to focus on taking the following three actions that we know make the biggest difference to household water consumption.
Reduce toilet flushing. Flush only when needed.
Reduce toilet flushing. Only flush when needed.
Keep showers to 3 mins or less
Keep showers to three minutes or less.
Do laundry with full loads only
Only run the washing machine and dishwasher with full loads.
More ways you can conserve water
Inside your home, there are lots more ways to save water in your kitchen, bathroom and laundry room. Here are some more suggestions on how you can make every drop count.
Laundry room
Biggest water saving opportunity
Reduce laundry
Reduce the number of laundry loads as much as you can each week and switch the appliance to an eco-setting, if you can. Here are some suggested guidelines based on the number of people in the household.
- One person: one load of laundry per week or less.
- One to two people: one to two loads of laundry per week or less.
- Three to four people: two to four loads of laundry per week or less.
- More than five people: five to seven loads of laundry per week or less.
How to do it
- Only use your washing machine when you have a full load.
- Wash only the clothes you need to get you through the week.
- Reduce your laundry by re-wearing clothing and reusing towels as much as you can.
More ways you can conserve water
Be a laundry tourist!
- Consider visiting family or friends in a community that doesn't use City of Calgary water to wash your laundry.
Do laundry with full loads only
Bathroom
Biggest water saving opportunity
Reduce toilet flushing and showers
- Reduce the number flushes per day by adopting an if it’s yellow, let it mellow and if it’s brown then flush it down routine.
- Switch to once every two days rather than daily showers.
- Stick to a three-minute shower and turn off the water when lathering with soap or shampooing.
- Use a timer or listen to a single 3-minute song to help you stay on track.
More ways you can conserve water
Adjust your toilet to use less water
If you don’t have a low-flow toilet, you can further reduce the amount of water used for each flush by putting a water displacement device (like a brick or a bottle filled with water) in the toilet tank.
Flush only when needed
Showers and bathing
- Stick to showers as much as you can. If you need to take a bath, keep it shallow.
- Turn off the tap when lathering your hands or face while washing, brushing your teeth or shaving.
- Use a cup to rinse your mouth and hands if needed.
- Pull up the stopper and fill the bottom of the sink basin with a little bit of water when you shave.
- Skip a hair wash or shave.
Fix leaky taps and toilets
- Inspect all faucets, showerheads, and toilets for leaks and repair them.
- Take the leaky toilet test.
- Use your water meter to check for and repair any fixture leaks.
- Take the leaky toilet test.
Cleaning
Where you can, wipe instead of wash and sweep instead of spray. Review your cleaning practices to reduce or eliminate water use.
Keep showers to 3 mins or less
Brush teeth with the taps off
Turn off tap when washing hands
Kitchen
Biggest water saving opportunity
Reduce dishwasher loads
Reduce the number of dishwashing loads as much as you can each week and change the appliance setting to a shorter cycle. Here are some suggested guidelines based on the number of people in the household.
- One person: one load of dishes per week or less.
- Two people: one to two loads of dishes per week or less.
- Three to four people: two to four loads of dishes per week or less.
- More than five people: five to seven loads of dishes per week or less.
Here’s how to do it:
- Only wash full loads.
- Cut down on dirty dishes by making meals that require little to no washing (e.g. barbequing), re-using cups throughout the day or even using compostable dishes over the next few weeks.
More ways you can conserve water
Cooking
- Consider preparing meals that limit pots and pans, like barbecue or one-pot meals.
- Wash vegetables and fruit in a partially filled sink or pot and then rinse them quickly.
- Don’t use water to defrost frozen foods. Instead, leave them in the fridge overnight.
- Boil food in as little water as possible. Use just enough to submerge your pasta and potatoes.
- Keep a jug of drinking water in your fridge. Don’t run the tap to get ice-cold water.
- Turn off ice machines.
Washing dishes
- Use compostable plates and utensils to cut down on washing up.
- Scrape plates clean rather than rinsing off food.
- If washing dishes by hand, fill one basin part way with hot water for washing and the other side with part way with water for rinsing, instead of running the tap continuously.
Cleaning
Where you can, wipe instead of wash and sweep instead of spray. Review your cleaning practices to reduce or eliminate water use.
Wash dishes on a full load only
Scrape plates instead of rinsing
Use compostable dishes
Barbecue to limit pots and pans
Utility room
Save water in the utility room:
- Turn off your water softener.
- Turn off humidifiers.
- Service and repair appliances like water softeners, furnace humidifiers and hot water tanks.
Fix any leaks
Water collection
We recommend collecting and reusing water for plants and gardens or for toilet flushing at the end of your day
Outdoors
- Collect rainwater in a rain barrel, bucket or any container to water your plants and garden in the coming days and weeks.
Inside the home
- Put a bucket in the shower/tub to collect water as it heats up. A big rubber tote works great.
- Add a container to your kitchen or bathroom sinks to capture leftover water throughout the day.
- If your washing machine has an accessible drain hose, you can redirect the final rinse water into a large container.
Put out a bucket to collect rainwater.
Use rain barrels to collect water.
Use a bucket in the shower.
Translated water saving tips
Below you can find many of our water saving tips translated into multiple languages.
Language | Download link |
---|---|
French |
Nous vous prions pour l’instant de ne pas employer l’eau de la ville |
Chinese-simplified | |
Chinese-traditional | |
Ukrainian | |
Gujurati | |
Hindi | |
Gurmukhi | |
Urdu | |
Amharic | |
Arabic | |
Tagalog | |
Vietnamese |
Did you know?
This is the typical home water use in Calgary.
The average residential home fixtures use the following volumes of water:
- Low flow toilet (per flush) uses 6L
- Dishwasher (per load) uses 35L
- Low flow showerheads (per 5 minutes) use 40L
- Regular showerheads (per 5 minutes) use 60L
- Typical bathtub (per use) uses 80L
- Non-low flow toilet (per flush) uses up to 25L
- Front load washing machine uses 65L
- Top load washing machine uses 180L
- Watering the lawn (summer only) uses up to 950L
More information
-
Here are some ways to reduce non-essential water use without compromising safety or quality.
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Here are some tips on how you can maintain a healthy yard when we are trying to conserve water use or during water restrictions.
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See where we are conserving water in parks, golf courses, pools and other City services.