Summer Fun Tips That Save Water

Things have been a bit unusual for Toronto, the GTA, and the Golden Horseshoe area, in general, this summer, in terms of the weather.

Summer has arrived, and while we’ve had a few heat wave warnings, they haven’t been as frequent as years past, and we’ve even had some regular, heavy rainfall. All of this is strays from the normal weather for this time of year in this part of Canada.

What’s not unusual, however, is what other things summer brings with it. We’re still getting longer, hotter days at this time year. The kids are still out of school for two months and spending more time at home. And for anyone with plants like trees, lawns or flowers, that vegetation is now in full bloom and still needs a lot of water to stay healthy.

With all these extra demands on water, wanting to have a bit of fun with the sprinkler on a hot day can make the water bill add up. But there are a few things you can do to lower water usage without denying the kids their fun.

Place a Rain Barrel in Your Yard

This would be especially useful in a year like this. Normally, when the rain falls, the plants can’t make full use of the water that falls, and quite a lot of is lost to evaporation or absorbed too deep into the ground before the plants can take advantage of it.

With a rain barrel, you’re storing liters of water for free. And while it’s not advised to use it for potable purposes like drinking or cooking, it makes a great substitute for your hose, so that if the kids do want to run through the sprinkler, you won’t have put much of a strain on your house supply.

Choose Your Watering Times Carefully

Another way that you can save on sprinkler time is with the schedule that you have for watering your lawn and plants.

People that use sprinklers or hose down their plants in the middle of the day are losing more water than they need to. The water tends to evaporate in mid-day heat.

If you can either take the time to water your plants in the morning, or evening, or schedule your automated sprinklers to do so at this time, you save on water. You can water your plants less frequently because the cooler temperatures at these times of day ensure water sticks around longer.

Put Dinosaurs on Ice

If you have young children and want a truly unique water activity that doesn’t use much water at all, this is a great choice.

Take dinosaur toys, put them into a large container filled with water, then freeze that container. Now you’ve got a solid block of ice with dinosaurs inside.

Take this to the kids outside and either give them tools to chip out the dinosaurs, or give them water guns or syringes with salt water to melt the ice. This lets them play at being paleontologists and provides a fun, novel experience without wasting too much water.