Living in the desert means that we need to be conscious of the amount of water we use and how we use it. In general, Tucsonans use water much more efficiently than people who live in other parts of Arizona. According to Tucson Water, we average 160 gallons of water per person per day. That may sound like a lot, but keep in mind that this includes both residential and nonresidential water consumption, from swimming pools to washing machines to construction sites. The gallons per capita per day average for Scottsdale is more than twice the Tucson average.

The Tucson Water website is a great resource for anyone wanting to know more about water use in Tucson. They also have detailed instructions for reading your water bill and your water meter so that you can see exactly how much water you're using each month.

They also have many suggestions for conserving water even more than we already do. Some of the salient tips include:
--install water-saving plumbing fixtures such as low-consumption toilets and efficient showerheads
--perform seasonal maintenance on your swamp cooler, if you have one, to keep it running efficiently
--turn off the water in the sink while you shave or brush your teeth
--wash only full loads in your dishwasher
--adjust your washing machine's water level setting to the size of the load
--landscape with plants native to the desert, such as palo verde, mesquite, and cactus, that don't need excessive water (broad spreading trees such as mesquite and palo verde also help conserve water by providing shade, thus preventing evaporation)
--during the summer months, water between 2am and 8am to reduce evaporation
--sweep, don't hose your patio; spot-clean areas that need it with a bucket of sudsy water and a brush
--keep your pool clean, since this keeps the filter clean and reduces the number of times you'll need to clean or backwash the filter