Contrary to popular belief, the dishwasher is designed to be more efficient than the way most of us wash dishes by hand. When you use your dishwasher every night instead of handwashing for just 10 minutes, you save 100 gallons of water a week. That's over 5,000 gallons in a year, or more than 80,000 glasses of water.

Does a dishwasher really save water?

In terms of water and energy usage, dishwashers are much more efficient than washing dishes by hand. ... The appliance also allows you to skip rinsing, scrubbing, and drying your dishes, saving time as well as more than 7,000 gallons of water per year, according to Energy Star.

What uses less water dishwasher or by hand?

It may feel more virtuous to wash by hand, but it's actually more wasteful: You use up to 27 gallons of water per load by hand versus as little as 3 gallons with an ENERGY STAR-rated dishwasher.