Drought Resources

Consumer Conservation Tips:
Save Water While Washing Dishes

Water use in the kitchen doesn’t end once the meal is prepared. Cleanup also involves considerable water use.

Although washing dishes by hand may use less water than washing them in an automatic dishwater, the efficiency of a dishwasher in removing bacteria is so much greater than hand washing that if you have a dishwasher, you should use it. The following tips provided by Maryland Cooperative Extension- the outreach unit of the University of Maryland’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources- can help you minimize the amount of water used in cleaning dishes:

  1. Wash only full loads in your dishwasher.

  2. Select the cycles that use the least number of washes and rinses. You can decrease the amount of water required from 16.5 to 7.5 gallons by choosing short-run cycles.

  3. Avoid unnecessary rinsing of dishes when loading the dishwasher. Wipe them with paper napkins or a scraper to minimize rinsing.

  4. Hand wash and rinse in pans of hot water any serving and cooking dishes that would take up a lot of dishwasher space. If you prefer to rinse these dishes under running water, avoid letting it run continuously. Wash them soon after meals so that food doesn’t harden and require use of more water.

For more information, contact:
Tom Miller, 410-827-8056 x129; tm26@umail.umd.edu

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