Contributed by Cindi Pearce, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

Most of us (stupidly) take the water supply for granted. We turn on the faucet and voila, there it is. If we keep assuming this laissez faire approach to water, we may ultimately run out of it, and that’s going to be one huge mess.

When we conserve on water we help prevent pollution of water in lakes, streams, rivers and watersheds, in addition to saving money and a valuable resource. It really doesn’t take much on our part to conserve water. We just need to make the effort to do it and then stick to it.

Here are the top 10 ways to conserve water:

10. Knowledge is power

Go to the United States Geological survey site and take a quick test which shows you approximately how many gallons of water you use in your household per day. You may be in for a surprise. The average person uses about 123 gallons of water per day. The average family of four uses approximately 400 gallons of water each day. That’s a lot of water.

9. Smart sprinkling

When you use a sprinkler to water your grass you can use 500 gallons of water in two hours. Cut back on your sprinkling or give it up all together.

8. Watch your wash

Purchase a high-efficiency washing machine which uses less than 27 gallons per load compared to the 27 to 54 gallons per load that is used by traditional washing machines. Do full loads.

7. Channel your inner camel

Pretend you are a camel. This creature conserves water by not sweating. Of course, camels also have extra dry nasal passages which re-condense water in the camel’s nose each time he takes a breath. The camel is able to conserve water in its nasal passages. Humans do not have that capacity.

6. Switch your shower head

Invest in water saving shower heads, which are low-flow. This means that less than 2.5 gallons of water is used per minute compared to five or 10 gallons were minute when not using this type of shower head.

5. Avoid the wind

Do not water your lawn when there is a lot of wind because this results in evaporation, and you are wasting water and not doing your yard a darn bit of good. In fact, you can waste up to 300 gallons of water in one windy day watering spree. Water your lawn in the morning when it is cool. Collect rainwater in a barrel and use this to water your lawn and flowers.

4. Shorter showers

If you cut just five minutes off of your shower time you will save a significant amount of water. A four minute shower – with a water saving shower head, of course – uses somewhere between 20 and 40 gallons of water. If you take a nine minute shower … well, do the math. However, you use less water when you shower rather than take a bath. A bath tub holds about 45 gallons of water.

3. Stop leaks

If you have a leak that you are unaware of you can lose 20 gallons of water each day. When you get your water bill at the first of the month you are going to squawk. If you have a big leak you can lose hundreds of gallons of water. Check your pipes and faucets regularly to see if you have any leaks. If you do, fix them. If your water meter is running, and you’re not knowingly using any water at the time you check the meter this indicates that there is a leak somewhere.

2. Brush with less water

When brushing your teeth, turn off the faucet. If you have a large family and each person takes a minute or more to brush their teeth two or three times a day think of the amount of water that is pouring down the drain, unnecessarily. It will take you one split second to turn off the water and then another split second to turn it back on, rinse out your mouth and rinse off your brush. The bathroom is the water succubus in a home. Three-quarters of the water usage in a house comes from the bathroom. A faucet runs at two gallons of water per minute. If you turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth or shaving you can save in excess of 200 gallons of water each month.

1. Flush less

Don’t flush your home toilet every time you pee. Each time you flush you are using five to seven gallons of water. If you think your toilet may be leaking put some food coloring in the tank but do not flush. If food coloring shows up in the bowl within 30 minutes you have a leak. Flushing the toilet accounts for approximately 28 percent of the water usage in a home. A leaky toilet can result in the loss of 200 gallons of water a day, which is mind-boggling.