5 Smart Ways to Lower Your Water Bill

Reduce costs by checking for leaks, replacing water-guzzling appliances and breaking some bad habits

Mallika Mitra,

AARP

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Published April 23, 2026

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Key takeaways

The average monthly water bill hit $56.56 in 2025, a five-year high.
Household leaks waste thousands of gallons of water annually but are often cheap to fix.
Switching to water-efficient showerheads, faucets and toilets can yield huge savings.

Older adults are facing higher prices for everything from gas and groceries to health care and housing. While some of those costs can feel out of control, water bills are one area where making a few adjustments can give your budget significant breathing room.

Finding ways to trim your water expenses is especially worthwhile right now, as the average monthly water bill hit $56.56 in 2025, a five-year high and a 6 percent year-over-year increase, according to Boston-based utility research firm Bluefield Research.

“Aging infrastructure is one of the largest issues facing the U.S. water sector,” says Megan Bondar, an analyst at Bluefield Research. “Deferred maintenance of utility assets and having to fund them is a big reason as to why utility rates increase over time.”

Here are ways to shave money off your home’s water bill.

1. Implement water-saving habits around the house

Start with the basics. “The easiest way to conserve water is simply to turn off the tap,” says Scott Frazier, an associate professor of biosystems and agricultural engineering at Oklahoma State University.

Shutting off your faucet when you’re brushing your teeth or shaving can save 1 to 2 gallons of water per minute, while shortening showers can save 2 to 4 gallons per minute.

If you’ve become accustomed to hand-washing dishes, start delegating the chore to your dishwasher. Even letting your faucet run for five minutes while washing dishes can waste 10 gallons of water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Using your garbage disposal sparingly can also help conserve water, since disposals use around two gallons of water per minute. To use your disposal less, scrape your food scraps into the garbage before putting them in the dishwasher and consider composting.

One no-brainer: Run your dishwasher and washing machine only with full loads.

Another good habit? Check your water statement every month to look for clues that might indicate an issue, such as a hidden leak or a toilet that’s constantly running.

2. Check for leaks

That drip-drip-drip from a leaky faucet isn’t just irritating — it’s also costly. “It may not seem like a big deal, but those drips, when they’re going 24/7, add up to a decent amount of water,” says Angie Hicks, cofounder of Angi, a platform that connects homeowners with home service professionals.

How decent an amount? The EPA estimates that the average household loses 9,300 gallons of water due to leaks each year.

Hicks recommends checking your faucets and the pipes leading to them for leaks and wet spots weekly. If you notice a leak, you may be able to fix it yourself by replacing worn washers or cartridges, which are small plastic and rubber parts that can help prevent faucets from dripping.

“These fixes are typically inexpensive, often under $50 if you’re just replacing a small part, and can stop water waste right away,” Hicks says. Lowe’s, Home Depot and Angi offer step-by-step guides.

You should also check toilet flappers, which have valve seals that can cause leaks when they wear out. Put a few drops of food coloring in the toilet tank, wait about half an hour, then check whether the colored water appears in the toilet bowl. If it does, there’s probably a leak, and you may need a new flapper. It’s a cheap fix — standard flappers cost around $10. (The EPA recommends bringing your old one, or a photo of it, to the hardware store so you can make sure to buy a replacement that fits your toilet.)

Empty nesters should check areas of the house they rarely visit, such as their grown children’s bathrooms or their basement, for leaky faucets and toilets, Hicks says. Don’t forget to check for exterior leaks, too, if you have an outdoor faucet.

If you see wet spots under a sink or along pipes, that may be a sign of a more serious issue, such as a slow leak, corrosion or a loose connection deeper in the plumbing, says Hicks. She recommends calling a plumber right away in those instances.

Plumbers typically charge around $75 to $150 per hour, often depending on how severe the issue is and whether it requires emergency service outside regular business hours, Hicks says.

3. Maintain your water heater

You may think that heating only impacts your energy bill, but the longer you wait for your water to heat up, the more water you waste. That’s why it’s important to maintain your home’s water heater.

Hicks recommends flushing your water heater once a year. “That will keep the sediment from building up in your water heater and make it run more efficiently,” she says. A plumber can do this for you; it typically costs between $100 and $200, according to HomeAdvisor, which tracks home repair prices nationwide.

4. Limit outdoor water use

In some parts of the country, especially those with hotter and drier climates, outdoor water use can contribute significantly to water waste and raise your utility bill.

If your property has an irrigation system, consider installing a smart irrigation controller that can align your watering schedule with weather patterns so, for example, your sprinkler system doesn’t run when it’s raining, suggests Ron Burke, president and CEO of the Alliance for Water Efficiency, a Chicago-based nonprofit. If you don’t have an irrigation system but still water your lawn, he recommends mulching your property — mulch retains moisture and, as a result, minimizes how frequently you need to water grass and plants.

When you water your yard can make a difference, too. Burke says the morning is often best, since temperatures are typically cooler then, meaning water evaporates more slowly.

5. Use water-efficient plumbing fixtures and appliances

If your home has old plumbing fixtures, it may be time to replace them with new, water-efficient models. Take toilets, for example: The federal standards for toilet water efficiency changed in 1992. If you have a toilet that is older than that, “there’s a pretty good chance that it’s a water guzzler,” Burke says.

Toilets with a WaterSense label, which indicates they meet the EPA’s specifications for water efficiency and performance, can reduce water use by 13,000 gallons per year for the average household. That can save you more than $170 in water costs annually and $3,400 over a toilet’s lifetime (typically 25 years).

Switching to WaterSense-labeled showerheads and faucets can save the average family 2,700 gallons per year and 700 gallons per year, respectively. These WaterSense products “don’t cost any more than a less efficient device, and they perform really well,” Burke says. Installing low-flow aerators, which you can easily attach to showerheads and faucets, can also help reduce water consumption, and they typically cost only $10 to $20.

For major appliances, look for the Energy Star label. Washing machines with it use 30 percent less water than regular washers, while dishwashers with the certification can save 5,800 gallons of water over their lifetime.

Some water providers offer customers rebates for replacing older showerheads, faucets or appliances with WaterSense or Energy Star models. You can see if yours does by using the EPA’s rebate finder and Energy Star’s rebate finder.

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The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Mallika Mitra is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in Bloomberg News, CNBC, Business Insider and The Wall Street Journal's Buy Side, among other places. She was previously a writer and editor at Money, where she wrote a weekly newsletter about investing, as well as a wide range of stories on meme stocks, crypto, generational investing trends and more.