Most Americans use about 50 to 75 gallons of water each day in their homes. You use it to flush your toilets, cook your food, wash your face, and of course, to quench your thirst.

Most households use less water in the early morning, while most people are sleeping, and during the winter. Peak consumption is in the spring and summer and when the family gets home in the late afternoon. Taking a closer look at your consumption patterns will give you a better idea of how you and your family can conserve water.

It is easy to waste water when you are not thinking about it and just as easy to conserve it by paying closer attention to how and when you turn on the tap. Make a conscious effort to track how much water you use when you brush your teeth, shower, cook, do your dishes, or clean your home, and look for ways to minimize water use at each step.

Don't Be a Drip

Even a small leak can waste a ton of water. A leak of just one drop per second wastes 2,700 gallons of water a year. Get out a wrench and put a stop to those drips. Toilets are the leading cause of household water leaks, and even a small toilet leak can cost you $50 or more each year in increased water and sewer bills.

Not sure if your toilet is leaking? Drop a little food coloring in your toilet tank. If the color seeps into the toilet bowl without flushing, you have a leak.

In an Emergency

Make sure you know how and where to turn off your water quickly if a pipe were to burst. This could save thousands of gallons of water and thousands of dollars in damage to your home.

Do Double Duty

Get more out of your water use by multitasking. Think of ways to use the same water more than once while grooming, cleaning, washing dishes, and playing. For example, allow cooking water to cool and use it to water plants both indoors and out.

Bathroom

The vast majority of the water flowing through your house is going in and out of your bathroom. So this is by far the best place to focus your energy when it comes to conserving water.

• Go low flow. Water-saving shower heads or flow restrictors can save as much as 500 to 800 gallons of water per month. Installing one takes only a few minutes, and for a small investment of $10 to $20, you could save $50 to $75 per year on water bills and $20 to $50 or more per year on energy bills. Some municipalities even give low-flow gadgets away for free, so check with your county or other local resources before you buy.

  New low-flow models do more than just block the flow of water. They are designed to aerate water, giving you a robust shower that is comparable to standard models. If you are building a new house or remodeling, consider installing a low-flow toilet that can reduce indoor water use by 20 percent.

• Save water while you groom. Old habits are hard to break, but letting the water run while you are grooming is a good one to change. Turn the water off while you brush your teeth and you will save four gallons a minute. That's 200 gallons a week for a family of four! Save three gallons of water each day by turning off the water while shaving. Instead, fill the bottom of the sink with a few inches of water to rinse your razor. In the shower, turn off the water while you shampoo and condition your hair and you can save more than 50 gallons a week. Do double duty by brushing your teeth in the shower.

  Waiting for hot water? Do you have a faucet or shower that takes forever to produce hot water? This is often the case when water has to travel a distance through plumbing to reach its destination. But a lot of water gets wasted while you are waiting for your shower to heat up. Don't let the cold water go down the drain. Instead, capture it with a cup or watering can to use later on house plants or your garden. This can save anywhere from 200 to 300 gallons of water each month.

  For baths, plug the drain before turning the water on and adjust the temperature as the tub fills up.

Consider installing a point-of-use (tankless) water heater to produce instant hot water right where and when you need it. This can significantly minimize the amount of water you waste while waiting for your next hot shower. Some states and localities offer rebates and tax incentives for installing these devices.

• Double up. You may not have the option to share a shower once your baby is born. But until then, it makes sense to take advantage of this water saving trick! You and your partner can also shower one right after another so that you don't have to wait for the water to heat up.

• Toilet dams. You only need about 2 gallons of water to successfully flush your toilet (older model toilets use seven to 10 gallons while newer models use three to five). You can minimize this water waste by making a toilet dam that cuts down on the amount of water used for each flush. Fill a plastic water bottle with pebbles or water and place it in your toilet tank. If you have an active toilet, this can save you roughly 300 gallons of water each month.

• Use your trash can. Your toilet uses more water than anything else in your home (up to 28 percent). So conserve flushes by tossing dead bugs, tissues, and baby wipes (even the flushable ones) in the trash can instead of the toilet to avoid unnecessary flushes.

Kitchen

About 10 percent of all the water used in your home is used in the kitchen, primarily for dishwashing, cooking, drinking, and cleaning. Here's how to save water in each of those areas.

• The dirt on dishes. A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany found that washing dishes with a dishwasher uses half the energy, one-sixth the water, and much less soap than washing dishes by hand. They even accounted for washing half loads and particularly dirty loads. Of course, your best bet is to run the dishwasher with a full load to maximize water and energy efficiency.

  If you don't have a dishwasher, or if you just like to wash your dishes by hand, minimize running water by filling one sink with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you only have one sink, use a spray device or short blasts from the tap to rinse.

• Thirsty? It is important to drink a lot of water during your pregnancy. Keep a bottle or a pitcher of drinking water in the refrigerator. This way you won't have to run the tap to get a cool drink. Water carries nutrients through your blood to your baby, and helps support the production of amniotic fluid in the womb. Water also helps flush toxins from the body.

• Think again before purchasing bottled water. Bottled water uses more energy and resources in its production and shipping than tap water, and it is often of similar or lesser quality. Americans throw away roughly 22 million water bottles each year, clogging up landfill as well as resources. And according to the Natural Resource Defense Council's four-year study on the bottled water industry, water that comes from a bottle is no cleaner or safer than water that comes from the tap. In fact, their study found that at least 25 percent of bottled water is actually just bottled tap water. Save money and resources by carrying your own reusable bottle filled with tap water, instead.

One place you don't want to skimp on water is the amount of water you drink each day. Women who are pregnant or nursing need lots of water to stay hydrated. The Institute of Medicine recommends that pregnant women drink about 10 cups of water each day and women who breastfeed consume about 13 cups per day.

• The big chill. Defrosting your meat or veggies with tap water can waste 100 gallons of water each month. Plan ahead and defrost food in the fridge or use the microwave when time is short.

• Clean those veggies. Wash your fruits and veggies in a small pot rather than a stream of running water. When you finish, toss the rinse water on a houseplant.

• Get more from your garbage. Skip the garbage disposal (which needs a lot of water to operate properly). Instead, consider starting a compost pile to get rid of food waste.

Laundry

Your laundry machine is the second biggest user of water in your home, so it has a big impact on your water, sewer, and energy bills. Reduce water consumption with these tricks for greening your laundry pile.

Depending on the make and model of machine that you own, each load of laundry you wash will use between 27 and 54 gallons of water. Get the most out of that water by washing full loads of laundry whenever possible. If you do need to wash a small load, set the water on the lowest fill-setting possible.

When washing clothes by hand, put a stopper in the sink or tub for both wash and rinse. Don't just let all of that precious water run down the drain.

Air Conditioners

If you already have an evaporative air conditioner, direct the water run-off to a flower bed or the base of a tree. Or, consider installing an air-to-air heat pump on your air conditioning system to stay cool without wasting water.

Outdoors

Typically, outdoor water use accounts for up to 50 percent of water consumed by households. You can reduce your outdoor water consumption by taking a few simple steps to tighten those taps, eliminate those leaks and use water wisely.

• From the hose. Attach an adjustable nozzle to the end of your garden hose so that you can control water volume and flow. Winterize outdoor spigots when temperatures dip below freezing to prevent leaks or burst pipes.

• A clean ride. When it comes time to wash you car, you will actually use less water at a car wash than you would at home. Commercial car washes use high-powered hoses and recycled wash water to maximize water conservation. If you want to do the job at home, use a bucket of water to soap up the car followed by a quick rinse with the hose. If you can, make the water do double duty by washing the car on your lawn so that your grass gets a drink as well.

• For the pool. If you have a pool, use a pool cover to cut down on evaporation. An uncovered standard-sized (16 ft. × 32 ft.) pool loses approximately one inch of water each week to evaporation. Mark the water level with a grease pencil, so that you can closely monitor for leaks. Also, consider installing a water-saving pool filter.