Water-Saving Summertime Fun Tips That Make Sense

Summer means a lot of things to different people. For kids, it means that school is out and there are two glorious months of fun with friends, outings, maybe even a family vacation.

For adults, it may mean that a well-maintained garden is now going into full bloom. But, the arrival of summer doesn’t just affect people, it can affect the home too, especially in the area of your monthly water bills.

With longer, hotter days, and less frequent rain, kids may want to distract themselves with a run through the sprinkler.

On the other hand, those green, healthy lawns, trees, and plants will only stay that way with regular watering. This can often mean an increase in water usage at this time of year, but you have options to mitigate the spike in your bills without sacrificing water fun for the family.

Xeriscape Your Property

If you’re in the mood for a big change to your landscape, one option, instead of just rearranging shrubs or building a new deck, is a technique called Xeriscaping.

This is a practice of shaping a property to be pleasing to the eye, while still cutting down on the water demands the property may have by between 50-75%.

This is accomplished through the careful selection and placement of plants and landscaping techniques designed to work in drought-ridden areas. You’d be surprised at just how many unique, diverse looks a xeriscape can bring to a home with the smart use of plants. And it has a huge impact on your water consumption.

Cover Your Swimming Pool

If you’re lucky enough to have a swimming pool in your yard, this is already going to be a major source of water based entertainment in the summer.

But, many pool owners choose to leave the pool open and exposed, ready to take a quick dip whenever the mood strikes.

While that’s an understandable choice, you can save on your water and maintenance by keeping the pool covered when it’s not in use. A covered pool loses far less water to evaporation.

The cover also acts as protection against detritus like leaves, and it makes the job of your chemicals and filters easier since contaminants like bird droppings aren’t dissolving into the water.

Put Some Dinosaurs On Ice

This is a unique, water based activity that still doesn’t use a lot of water at all. Take a large container, fill it with water, then take some water safe dinosaurs and submerge them in the container.

Put it in a freezer and leave it sitting until you’ve got a block of ice. Now, surprise the kids with it, along with some tools to chip away at the ice, or, for more novelty, water guns or syringes filled with salt water that can melt the ice away.

Kids really enjoy the idea of being a paleontologist, digging up dinosaurs for discovery, and you have some quality time with your little ones.