Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The summer drought inspires one family to conserve water. Gretchen Mahan tells us more.

My family agreed to try and reduce their personal water use by implementing simple conservation techniques. The day before our experiment began, I printed out the San Antonio Water System conservation tips and posted them in bathrooms and the kitchen. My dad, Jim, reads one of the tips.

When brushing teeth, turn the water off until it is time to rinse. When shaving fill the lavatory basin with hot water instead of letting the water run continuously. I think that’s a good, conservative use of water.

We also changed the shower head in my brothers’ bathroom to a more water efficient one from San Antonio Water System. My brother Peter tells us about it.

There are two kinds of sprays…the normal spray, the massage.

But my older brother, Trey, says taking shorter showers, wasn’t the most enjoyable experience.

My shower today was approximately seven and a half minutes compared to what it used to be was over fifteen minutes. It was a very painful process, but it was well worth it to save the environment.

Okay, so there may have been a little sarcasm in that last line. My brothers aren’t exactly the environmentalists of the family. But with a little prodding, we managed to do fairly well, saving 3,000 gallons or 13 percent of our total water use.

Thanks Gretchen. That’s our show…Find more information at passporttotexas.org. For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Water Conservation Family Style, 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download