By Lena Babaeva Coradini

Water efficiency can lead to money savings! Here are some suggestions on how to improve water efficiency:

1. Leaking toilets: The average household can leak more than 10,000 gallons of water each year, and much of that water escapes through toilets. . . .

2. No WaterSense: . . .  To ensure that your home is as water efficient as possible, experts encourage consumers to look for the WaterSense label when buying or replacing appliances. . . .

3. Overwatering the lawn: . . . "When you are watering your lawn, make sure that you are not doing it in the heat of the day, so you are not losing water to evaporation," Thornton says. In addition, avoid watering the lawn when it is windy out, as moisture can be carried away from its intended destination. Finally, make sure that the water is landing only on the landscaping, and not on the driveway or street.

4. Toilet Trash Can: Representing almost a third of a household's total indoor consumption, toilets are the biggest source of water use in your home. And even if the unit itself is working correctly, improper use of a toilet can waste water. To eliminate extra flushes—which unnecessarily consume water—experts recommend that homeowners avoid using their toilets as garbage bins. . .

5. Asleep in the bathroom: . . . When you are shaving or brushing your teeth, turn the water off when you're not using it—rather than letting it run the whole time. Thornton also recommends taking a shower instead of a bath. . .

6. Half-full laundry loads: . . .  "Only wash full loads of clothes," Dickinson says. "Don't go running the clothes washer load for just five pieces of clothing." By consolidating smaller loads into larger ones, you can minimize the use of your washing machine, which will conserve water and save money.