TIPS

decrease water use and cut back on your water bill. e EPA says that, if all 300 million people in the U.S. reduced their shower time by one minute each time, the country could save 170 billion gallons each year.

Turning o the tap while brushing your teeth can save 8 gallons of water per day, and only running the dishwasher when it’s full can save the average family about 320 gallons of water per year, according to the EPA.

But Berggren says rather than changing habits — which we all know can have a hit-or-miss success rate — he’d start with making purchases, like a more e cient shower xture.

e EPA says households can boost their water e ciency by 20% when residents switch to products with WaterSense labels. And a shower that lasts for ve minutes using a low- ow showerhead uses 12 gallons of water, according to a 2014 Colorado State University water use fact sheet.

Similar savings are possible with toilets: ose made before 1993 use 3.5 to 8 gallons per ush, while high e ciency toilets made after 1993 use 1.6 gallons per ush or less. at means a family of four can save 14,000 to 25,000 gallons per year by switching to more e cient toilets. ( e date of manufacture of most toilets is on the underside of the tank lid.)

Updating your washing machine can also make a big di erence. Conventional, top-loading washing machines use 35 to 50 gallons per load. Newer front-loading machines use 18 to 20 gallons per load, according to CSU.

For those who have updated their appliances and are careful about water use around the house, there’s a way to take at-home e ciency a step further: grey water reuse. ese systems capture grey water — the runo from showers, bathroom sinks and laundry machines — and then use it for other purposes, like watering ornamental plants outside or ushing toilets, at the same location. is water can contain dirt, oil, greases, lint and possibly human pathogens, so don’t use it to drink or water your vegetables, experts say. ese systems also come with a catch: Local governments need water rights that allow for reuse, which limits the adoption of grey water programs, and new installations are only legal if the local government has o cially approved grey water reuse. People with pre-existing systems should check with their local programs to see if their system can be grandfathered in.

Laundry-to-landscape systems installed by homeowners, which capture washing machine water for outdoor irrigation, can cost as little as $350, said Jon Novick, the environmental administrator for the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.

Whole house systems pipe water from showers and bathroom sinks through a treatment process and then send it to toilets to provide water for ushing. e system alone can cost $6,000 to $8,000, not including installation costs, so they’re more feasible for new houses or developments with multiple units, Novick said. ey’re often cost prohibitive for existing homes.

As of July, six local governments have approved grey water reuse, including the city and county of Denver, Pitkin County, Fort Collins, Grand Junction and Golden. ose who draw water from wells will need to check their permits. Exempt well permits, for example, do not allow reuse of indoor water for outdoor irrigation.

If a grey water system saves 25 gallons per day and is installed in 500,000 homes, it could save 14,000 acre-feet per year. at’s enough water to supply 28,000 homes, Novick said.

But the counties that have approved grey water ordinances have seen little uptake. As of June, Denver had approved 30 systems; Castle Rock, 29 systems; and Pitkin County, zero, according to each county’s program manager.

Whether water e ciency measures translate into conservation in the Colorado River Basin depends on factors ranging from where a resident lives to local water management decisions.

Water pulled from the Colorado River Basin on the Western Slope never returns to the basin. Front Range residents could use less water in the hope that more water could stay on the Western Slope, but there are no incentives for Front Range water providers to give up such a valuable resource because of water savings, said MacGregor, the water law expert at CU.

“Anyone who pockets (water) savings can make a ton of money by selling those savings to another water user,” he said. “ e question is, what is the mechanism for leaving water on the Western Slope through conservation?”

Even if a water e ciency program is enormously successful, cities and towns can still choose to use their water savings toward building new developments, rather than leaving them in reservoirs.

“ is is the really frustrating part of what’s happened in a lot of areas. It’s like, you look at it, and e ciency has increased per capita, use has decreased over time, but we’re still susceptible to drought,” MacGregor said. “It’s because we’re not actually banking those savings.”

If at-home water e ciency mea- sures are adopted widely, and the unused water is conserved for the future, those savings can help storage at local reservoirs and even help meet environmental and ecological needs by keeping more water in streams. It could even be used by downstream water rights holders who might have their supply cut o earlier in a dry year.

But there’s no guarantee that the water will reach the Colorado River’s main storage reservoirs, like Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border. at would require complicated, interstate legal and administrative procedures — an option being explored by Colorado.

Experts are adamant: Residents should still try to use water e ciently at home.

If Colorado residents are more efcient in their water use, then cities and towns could pull less water from rivers and streams on the front end, which leaves water in the stream for others. Landscapes could be better able to withstand wet and dry years with the addition of native plants. Treatment plants spend less money on treating water before releasing it, which could help with water bills, experts say.

“ is isn’t a situation that there’s going to be one thing that’s going to solve the problem. It’s more of a case of incremental change, so every little bit helps,” Novick said. “If you’re saving a gallon of water by taking a shorter shower, or two gallons of water — if everyone were to do that … all of that would add up. We have to think of this more holistically.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Thu 7/27

Nature Series: Naturalist

@ 3pm Jul 27th - Jul 28th

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Crafty Corner: Picture Matting (7/27)

@ 4pm

Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Reverse Mortgage Myths (7/27) @ 4pm Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 E. Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Lazy B Chuckwagon Dinner & Show

@ 9:45pm

Fort Lupton Recreation & Parks De‐partment, 203 S Harrison, Fort Lupton. 303-857-4200

Fri 7/28

Sat 7/29

AL. 7/31 Growing Naturally

Nature Play (2)

@ 9am / Free

Bird Conservancy's Environmental Learning Center, 14500 Lark Bunting Lane, Brighton. 303-6594348 ext. 53

Pirates Run for Booty @ 7:45am / $8-$25

108th Ave & Colorado Blvd, Car‐penter Park - SOUTH SIDE, Thorn‐ton

Leagues Cup Group StageColorado Rapids vs Deportivo Toluca FC @ 7:30pm / $25-$250

DICK'S Sporting Goods Park, 6000 Victory Way, Commerce City

Tue 8/01

Seth Beamer: Westminster

Neighborhood Nights (Solo Set)

@ 6pm Irving Street Library, 7392 Irving St, Westminster

Manolito Y Su Trabuco @ 9pm Mariscos El Berrinche's, 7850 Sheridan Boulevard, Westminster

Sun 7/30

Colorado Rockies vs. Oakland Athletics @ 1:10pm / $12-$300

Coors Field, 2001 Blake St., Denver

Mon 7/31

Storytime in the Park @ 3pm

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Craft Masters Challenge 2: Nature @ 4:30pm

Jul 31st - Aug 3rd

Bison Ridge Recreation Center, 13905 E. 112th Avenue, Commerce City. 303-2893760

Colorado Rockies vs. Oakland Athletics

@ 6:40pm / $12-$300

Coors Field, 2001 Blake St., Den‐ver

Colorado Rockies vs. San Diego Padres @ 6:40pm / $10-$300

Coors Field, 2001 Blake St., Denver

Legal Self-Help Clinc @ 2pm

Anythink Wright Farms, 5877 East 120th Avenue, Thornton. morgan@ hayday.org, 303-405-3242

Horse Trek @ 3pm Aug 1st - Aug 2nd Eagle Pointe Recreation Center, 6060 East Parkway Dr., Commerce City. 303-2893760

Jenny Shawhan @ 5pm Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, 6700 N Gaylord Rockies Blvd,, Au‐rora

Colorado Rockies vs. San Diego Padres @ 6:40pm / $10-$300

Coors Field, 2001 Blake St., Den‐ver

Wed 8/02

Priscilla Block @ 7pm Adams County Fairgrounds, 9755 Henderson Rd, Brighton

Thu 8/03

Gambling Trip The Wild Wood Cripple Creek (8/3) @ 2pm Offsite, 6060 E Parkway Drive, Commerce City. 303-289-3760

Jordan Davis @ 7pm Adams County Fairgrounds, 9755 Henderson Rd, Brighton