Operation: Summer Showers for your water conservation needs

Operation: Summer Showers kit

North Plains Groundwater Conservation District (district) challenged its residents to take advantage of Operation: Summer Showers during the month of July. Operation: Summer Showers is a program that stresses the importance of saving water at home by providing free water-saving survival kits during the hottest, peak water-use period of the year.

With support from area cities and local media, the district has supplied water conservation tools to the North Plains for the last five years.

The district continues to host Operation: Summer Showers because of the opportunity to partner with the communities. “This is a great way to extend our reach with these conservation messages. We are all water users, so we need to all be water savers. Partnering with the cities and local media allows us to touch more people with ideas of personal responsibility and conservation, and to put legitimate tools in their hands to make it happen.” said Kirk Welch, Assistant General Manager of Public Outreach at North Plains Groundwater Conservation District.

The Operation: Summer Showers kits included a water bottle, low-flow showerhead, rain/sprinkler gauge, faucet drip gauge, and a leak detector tablet. These kits were available at the district’s office at 603 E 1^st Street in Dumas, and at City Halls in Booker, Spearman, Stinnett, Stratford, Dumas, Dalhart and Perryton. If there are any remaining kits, they will reside at the NPGCD office for anyone to pick up after the month of July.

“Summer showers gives residents an opportunity to upgrade what may be outdated equipment, like showerheads, to conserve water in their homes, and potentially save on their water bill, too. They can be water efficient by checking for potential leaks in their toilets and more efficiently using their sprinkler systems with the rain/sprinkler gauge.” said Welch.  

Check out these tips for conserving water outside the house.

1. Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks
2. Water your lawn when it is cooler – early in the morning or late in the evening- to reduce water loss from evaporation.
3. Water when there is as little wind as possible to keep the water on your lawn.
4. Make sure you don’t over-water. Lawns rarely need more than one inch of water per week.
5. Use a rain gauge to measure rainfall so you don’t water if it’s unneeded.
6. Water when your lawn needs it, not on a timer. Use a rain gauge or tuna can to know when you’ve applied no more than one inch of water per week.
7. Allow grass to dry between watering to promote deeper root growth.
8. Keep your lawn around 2 ½ – 3 inches tall. Taller grass shades the soil, reducing evaporation.
9. Don’t bag your clippings. Use a mulching blade to save you time, and the clippings create a natural mulch to hold moisture.

Wanting to know how you can conserve water inside your home daily? Here are a few helpful hints.

1. When washing your hands, turn the water off while you lather.
2. If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, replace the showerhead.
3. Toilet leaks can be silent! Be sure to test your toilet for leaks at least once a year.
4. Shorten your shower by a minute or two, and you’ll save up to 150 gallons per month.
5. At home or while staying in a hotel, reuse your towels.
6. Plug the sink instead of running the water to rinse your razor and save up to 300 gallons a month.
7. Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan of water instead of running water from the tap.
8. Washing dark clothes in cold water saves water and energy, and helps your clothes retain their color.
9. Store drinking water in the refrigerator rather than letting the tap run every time you want a cool glass of water

More water-saving tips can be found at http://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/. Finally, make sure you are in compliance with any water restrictions in your city.

For more information about water conservation practices or Operation: Summer Showers, you may call the district at 806-935-6401 or email kwelch@northplainsgcd.org. “Like” the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District on Facebook, and “Follow” @NorthPlainsGCD on Twitter and Instagram to learn more water conservation tips.