How to reduce the water bill?

Hello everyone, I love the spring weather in Austin , wonderful weather where we can go out and also our  lawn turns green after winter and also the time when we plant so many plants and trees. We have to water all that we plant and the lawn and so our water bill raises steeply. Especially in Texas , we have drought conditions most summers. So apart from just to reduce  our water bill it is always a good idea to conserve water. It is one of the natural resource that we totally take for granted. Some tips to save on your water bill this summer are:

* Be aware, this is the first step. Be aware of how much of water the whole family is consuming so you dont be completely surprised when you see your bill.
*For some people having a green lush and healthy grass is a symbol of proud ownership . But it needs a lot of water. Make sure you know your grass type and how much of water it needs, based on that adjust your sprinkler to the correct timing required. This will help on conserving water. Dont water the lawn during winter.
*Hand water most of the plants and trees , make sure your pipes dont leak water at the point where it connects to the tap or at any other points, check it well. If you dont check it, you might be wasting a lot of water without noticing.
*Drip irrigation is an alternate method which can be used if you have many vegetable plants and fruit trees planted.
*If you have a pool in your house make sure you know how much it costs to maintain a pool. In general I have heard that if you have a pool in Texas it is like digging a hole and putting in your money.  Do the research before you install a pool.
*Toilet flushing: If you have two flush setting make sure you use the right one, also teach your kids about conserving water and using the right one.
*Laundry: Make sure you always put if full load or change your settings according to the load.
Other small things to note:
*Time your shower. Make sure you dont keep the shower turn on the whole time you are in the shower room.
*Usually it takes some time for the warm water from the boiler to reach the tap. Make sure you have a pail and save that cold initial water so you can water the plants later using it instead of just wasting it.
*If you have kids, there will be  a lot of water wasted in sippy cups, do collect all of them and use that to water the plants.
*Collect  all non-soapy water collected during cooking and use it to water the plants.
These are some of the things that we follow. Do add what you all do and thanks for reading this post. Also read other posts on Money saving tips that might be useful to you.