Tips for saving water we all need to internalize

There's an old Arab proverb that's rather chilling -- when you think of the hard lesson that must have been learned for someone to come up with the saying in the first place: It is wise to bring some water, when one goes out to look for water.

Water, of course, is something a lot of Americans -- including myself -- take for granted. Most of us have good plumbing, and our tap water is clean, or at least we're pretty sure it is. We'll take long, hot showers without thinking twice about it, and I'm sure many people in countries with low water reserves think that the idea of using a hose on a lawn -- a bunch of grass -- has to be the most wasteful and sinful idea to ever come down the pike.

So when the City of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, our nation's third largest water utility, sent me some spring season tips on saving water, saving money and helping to preserve the environment, I didn't need any convincing to pass them onto WalletPop readers.