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Water Sense
What You Can Do To Help

You can save money, water & energy while helping protect Lake Michigan.

It starts with each drop of water.

Reducing the amount of water we use cuts down on energy consumption and, in the case of leaky plumbing, wasted energy.   

Using less water when your favorite forecaster says heavy rain is on the way can reduce the risk of basement backups and sewer overflows.

We can all do a better job of managing the water that falls on our homes, yards, driveways and parking lots.  When rain washes across the land, it picks up pollution along the way and gives it a ride to the nearest waterway in most cases.

Polluted runoff is the biggest remaining threat to water quality in the United States.There are many things you can do to reduce polluted runoff, such as:

WATER CONSERVATION



We each use about 65 gallons of water a day.   If all of MMSD's 1.1 million customers used just 10 gallons less on a day with heavy rain, we would reduce the risk of basement backups and sewer overflows by 11 million gallons.  What can you do to use less water? 

  •  Do the laundry tomorrow if there's heavy rain today
  •  Take a shorter shower
  •  Turn the water off while brushing your teeth or shaving
  •  Install high efficiency plumbing
  •  Fix leaky plumbing (a leaky toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water a day)