- Curtail outside watering—grasses naturally go dormant in the summer heat, but
they’ll green up again in the fall. Landscape with native plants and trees that are
adapted to New England’s climate and minimize lawns.
- Conserve household water by installing low-flow shower heads and toilets. Don’t
leave the water running while brushing your teeth or rinsing dishes and always wash full
loads of clothes.
- Consider rainwater a resource. If your roof runoff is connected to pavement or sidewalk,
re-route it to a rain barrel or cistern or dry well, or to land where the water can
penetrate the ground rather than run off. Rain barrels store water that can be used for
landscaping.
- Use a bucket to catch shower water as it warms up, then use the water for your most
precious plants.
- If you must water outside (and we highly discourage this), water deeply once a week to
encourage deep roots that are less susceptible to low rainfall periods; shallow, frequent
watering causes shallow roots that dry out quickly in the heat. Do not install automatic
sprinklers. They could quintuple your water use, and that costs money.
- Keep your pool covered; or even better, don’t have a pool. Evaporation takes up
lots of water.
- Reduce your power consumption, which may require large volumes of water for power plant
cooling.
- Maintain your septic system properly. Septic systems are the best means of keeping water
local, rather than sending the water to distant wastewater treatment plants. Have them
inspected annually and pumped out regularly.
- Check your town’s water use, and pay attention to the "unaccounted"
water, which is water pumped or withdrawn from a source that gets lost on the way to homes
and businesses. This can reduce 20%, 30%, or even 50% of the town’s water
withdrawals! Make your voice heard.
- Review your town’s policies and bylaws to ensure they promote sustainable water
resource practices. Support land use strategies that protect water resources beyond the
tenure of elected officials.
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- Review town policies and bylaws to ensure they promote sustainable water resource
practices.
- Reconnect rain and groundwater by collecting runoff from roofs and other impervious
surfaces and get it into the ground. This reduces flood flows and enhances groundwater
recharge. Install stormwater best management practices that infiltrate stormwater rather
than releases it to already swollen rivers.
- Absolutely minimize impervious areas in aquifer recharge areas (Zone IIs). Maximize
recharge of clean water to aquifers.
- Protect potential future water supplies now. Stratified drift deposits are a valuable
resource, and now is the time to plan.
- Encourage homes and businesses to conserve water by offering incentive programs.
Implement water rate structures that penalize large water users (varying by residential
and business type). Adopt strict water conservation practices on town properties, and use
the opportunity to educate the public.
- Minimize unaccounted for water (aim for <10%) by installing adequate metering to
locate and fix leaks in the transmission system.
- Reduce infiltration and inflow into sewer systems. This can be more than half the
sewerage received at wastewater treatment plants! Towns pay to treat this clean water, and
the cost will at least partially offset the costs of finding and fixing I/I problems.
- Consider wastewater a resource. Re-evaluate wastewater management practices. Package
wastewater treatment plants do a much better job of keeping water local than very large
regional facilities. Sewering the whole town, previously served by septic systems, is not
an adequate solution.
- Make sure those responsible for water supply, wastewater treatment (sewers or septic
systems), land use planning, and stormwater talk to each other. This means providing a
forum where public works, water suppliers, planners, and boards of health can exchange
information. Consider the complete water cycle rather than compartmentalizing into
influent and effluent.
- Avoid fouling the nest. A contaminated water supply may be prohibitively expensive to
treat, but much less expensive to avoid.
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