Frugal Home - Conserving Water

My parents built their house first and then added the water system later. The water system had three wells with a pipe line that was a mile from the house to the end of the line.

Each winter the line would freeze. We would have to take buckets to the nearby brook, fill them, and carry them into the kitchen. A huge metal tub was on the four burner stove to melt any ice and heat the water for dishes, bathing, and other uses.

Our clothes were washed with a wringer washer in this water. We washed all the clothes starting with the light colors and ending with the dark colors. Then we would rinse them. We used the dirty water to flush the toilet.

I learned quickly how to conserve water. After moving, we have needed to conserve water many times "in town" for broken water heaters and pipes.

Even when the town's main line was messed up, I knew what the noise was, and called to ask if we needed to shut our water line off the system! (The answer was yes, the water break would have broken everyone's water tank with the suction.)

You can also conserve water to save on your water bill- smaller pans to wash and rinse dishes by hand, reusing shower water for toilet flushing and using kitchen/tub water for garden water. Rain barrels also fill the need of water, but to drink it you need to filter it.