Benefits of water conservation include:

• More water available for our common needs and to support healthy ecosystems, both now and in the future.
• Individuals save money through reduced water bills, and collectively we save by delaying or eliminating the need to expand water infrastructure
• The energy used to pump and treat freshwater and wastewater is conserved.
• Conserving hot water saves even more energy
• Most water customers pay a monthly base fee according to the size of their incoming water line; aggressive conservation may reduce the size of the inlet that a business or home needs, further increasing monthly savings.

• For homes, a water audit is an excellent way to spot costly leaks, which are very common: read your water meter, wait two hours without using any water, and read the meter again. The difference is leakage, and it adds up.
• Adding aerators with flow restrictors is an inexpensive way to save water from the tap, while keeping existing fixtures in use.
• Make sure your shower heads are less than 2 gallons per minute (gpm). Shower heads using 1.5 to 1.8 gpm can be quiet, comfortable and effective.
• The earthy art of composting uses little or no water, while garbage disposals require a great deal of water to work well. Food waste eliminated with a garbage disposal can also account for as much as 50% of home wastewater solids - increasing water treatment costs, or requiring septic tanks to be pumped more frequently.
• Insulating water pipes not only saves energy, it helps hot water reach the tap or shower faster, wasting less water while it warms up.
• Energy Star dishwashers and clotheswashers save energy - and water too.
• Investigate waterless urinals for businesses, and dual-flush toilets for businesses and homes.
• The water lost while waiting for hot water to reach a tap adds up to an average of 10,000 gallons per year per household. Two techniques can eliminate this problem. On-demand systems heat water instantly as needed save energy and water. Hot water recirculators can also eliminate this waste by pumping hot water in a loop from the heater to the farthest fixture in the system. However, constant recirculation systems can use more energy than they conserve by losing heat to pipes throughout the building. Recirculation systems are best suited to new construction plumbed for recirculation
• In new construction, heat-exchangers transfer heat from graywater (e.g., showers, sinks, washers) to incoming cold water, reducing hot water demand by as much as 50%.
• Consider roof rainwater collection and/or graywater for uses such as yard watering, car washing, and toilet flushing.

California's urban water use can be reduced by a full 39% – cost effectively and with existing, proven technology. Water conservation programs are tapping into this opportunity in new construction, saving 700,000 acre-feet (AF) per year in 2000 (an acre foot is the amount of water that would cover an acre of land one foot deep or about 326,000 gallons). However, an additional 890,000 AF per year could be saved by replacing existing inefficient fixtures and appliances, and reducing leaks. Such savings from existing technologies - not including some of the more novel ideas above - would be sufficient to supply the needs of 17 million additional water-efficient Californians according to the Pacific Institute (reference below.) Capturing those savings would reduce the appeal of more expensive and energy-intensive water sources, such as desalination.

Toilets, clothes washers, and showers account for three-quarters of indoor residential water demand, and efficient, effective fixtures are widely available, often supported by rebate programs. (For a list of local water rebates, see www.watersavingtips.org.)