California, the Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz, as well as many other parts of our country are in the early stages of a water crisis. Almost 40% of the cost of delivering that limited water supply to our homes is energy related. In fact, 20% of all energy consumed in California is used in just moving water around. Reducing water consumption can be one of the friendliest things you can do for our environment, and can also greatly reduce our carbon footprint as well as our dependency on fossil fuels. Do your part.
Reduce water heater setting to 120 degrees: Check the delivered temperature at the faucet with a meat thermometer.
Insulate water heater and hot water pipes: You may want to hire someone to do the piping in the crawlspace, but it will have a noticeable payback. Less time to get hot water at the tap.
Install an on-demand hot water recirculation pump: Combine this with insulated hot water pipes and it will even further reduce your wait time, which means less water waste.
Replace old toilets: Toilets can account for 30% or more of all of the water we consume in our homes. Pre 1992 toilets flush upwards of 3 gallons of perfectly good drinking water down the drain each time you pull the handle. New high-efficiency toilets (HET's) have cut that to 1.28 gallons, and they work great. Get a dual flush that's WaterSense approved.
Install high efficiency shower heads: Old shower heads can use 3-5 gallons of water per minute. Current standards require new shower heads use no more than 2.5 gpm, but great shower heads are on the market that use only 1.5-2 gpm. If you have multiple shower heads in use at one time, shame on you. Quit being so wasteful. Use one and cap the others off.
Install low-flow faucet aerators: You can cut the flow rate in half, and never notice a difference.
Use less water: See all of the above, take shorter showers, and fix those leaks.