We at Water – Use It Wisely often find ourselves rambling to family and friends about the importance of water conservation in Arizona. It occurred to us that we should share these facts and tips with everyone. After all, knowledge is power, right? Now you can share Arizona water trivia, facts, and tips with your own family and friends and know that you are helping conserve water in the desert, too. Just don’t forget to socially distance and wear your mask when sharing these water wisdoms!
- Keep your landscape from soaking you: For homeowners in the Phoenix-area, up to 70% of their household water is used outdoors. Focusing on outdoor water management is one of the best and easiest ways to save water.
- Saving water by the yard: Even during our hot summers, Bermuda grass only needs water once every 3 days. With winter grass, you should only water once every two weeks once it is established.
- The land of fake lakes: Arizona has many man-made lakes such as Bartlett Lake, Horseshoe Reservoir, Apache Lake, and Lake Havasu. They have been created as reservoirs to store water for later use. However, Stoneman Lake and Mormon Lake are two of Arizona’s naturally occurring lakes.
- Yep, we live in a desert: The Phoenix area only receives an average of 7-8 inches of rainfall a year. In comparison, a place like Orlando, Florida averages 52-inches annually.
- Drink up: The Phoenix metro area receives its drinking water from multiple sources, such as groundwater from wells and surface water from the Colorado and Salt Rivers. Reclaimed water is not yet used for drinking water in the Phoenix area, but is used for many other purposes.
- Harvest your rainwater: Even with our little rainfall, a 1,500-sq. ft. home rooftop can collect 7,000 gallons of water annually.
- Wipes (and more) clog pipes: Besides the usual deposits, if you know what we mean… you should never flush anything but toilet paper! What’s our most scandalous fact? Flushable wipes are NOT flushable. Pass it on!
- Only rain in the storm drain: Most of our storm drains lead to natural waterways. Things like dog waste, pesticides, and oil can cause pollution and harm wildlife.
- Kick your bottled water habit: Using a reusable water bottle reduces water and plastic waste. It takes 5 liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water (including the water needed to make the bottle). OK, maybe this is our most scandalous fact.
- Why the saguaro is king!: A saguaro cactus is one of the best water conservationists! It can hold 1,500 gallons of water. During one rain event, they can absorb up to 200 gallons of water.
- Flushing out the facts: Wondering what uses the most water indoors? The culprit is the toilet, using nearly 30% of indoor water!
- It just makes WaterSense: Older toilets can use as much as 7 gallons per flush. A WaterSense labeled toilet only uses 1.28 gallons per flush. ‘Nuff said!
- Water, water, everywhere: About 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, but less than 3% of that is fresh water.
- Pump it up: An aquifer is an area of underground permeable rock that contains groundwater, one source of Arizona water.
- Pretty ‘dam’ amazing: SRP’s watershed system is comprised of artificial lakes such as Roosevelt Lake, Apache Lake, Canyon Lake, Saguaro Lake, Horseshoe Lake, and Bartlett Lake – almost all created by dams with the same names.
Roosevelt Lake is a large reservoir formed by Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River. - Shower better: If you shower for 7 minutes a day with a WaterSense labeled showerhead you can save 1,278 gallons of water a year. We didn’t even mention the energy you can save!
- Fix a leak: One faucet leak drip contains ¼ millilitres of water. That may not sound like much, but if a faucet leaks one drip every second, it is the equivalent of wasting 5.7 gallons of water a day or 2,083 gallons per year.
- Keep the splash in your pool: In our dry desert climate, the typical swimming pool can evaporate its equivalent water volume in one year – about 20,000 gallons of water.
- Timing is everything: For efficient landscape watering, you should adjust your irrigation controller as the weather changes.
- A river runs through it: Arizona has many creeks and rivers. The Gila River, the Verde River, and the Salt River are some of the major ones you’ll find that originate in our state. While the Colorado River is a major supplier of water for Arizona, it originates from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
- Know your H2O: Water is chemical substance with no smell, taste or color. H2O is the chemical formula and it means that each molecule of water is made up of two hydrogen atoms, indicated by the letter H, and a single oxygen atom, represented by the letter O.
- Help your yard drink responsibly: With up to 70% of our household water going to outdoor use, consider using a pool cover, practice xeriscape landscaping principles, and be sure to conduct periodic irrigation checks. Avoid heavy pruning as it stimulates growth causing your plants to use more water. Pruning trees and shrubs regularly to keep them small does not help conserve water.
More facts and tips are ‘wading’ at your fingertips:
- Pools and Spas
- Landscape Watering Guide
- Make Water-Saving a No-Brainer – It Just Makes WaterSense
- Can It Be Flushed? The Answer is Likely NO!
- Storm Water: From the Streets to Your Rivers and Parks