How Can I Save Water?
The average person in the UK uses around 160 Litres of water per
day at home, of this two-thirds are used for preparing food and
washing and one-third is flushed straight into the sewer system from
the toilet.
Below are some handy hints and tips to help you reduce the amount of
water you use. Especially important if you are on one of the newer
water meters.
1. When washing the car don't use a hosepipe, instead use a bucket
and sponge.
2. Old toilet cisterns held enough water to flush a toilet twice, if
your cistern is of a new slimline model then place either a brick or
an empty plastic drinks bottle filled with pebbles or sand into the
cistern cavity, this will force the toilet to use less water.
3. Use grey water to water plants (Washing up water, water from
cooking vegetables & rain water) this could save you considerable
amounts of money. Also water your plants on an evening to allow the
plants to use the water, watering plants in the sunlight hours can
cause leaf burn plus your plants will be competing with evaporation
caused by the sun.
4. Swap your daily bath for a shower, you will use ten times less
water. For those of you more extreme eco warriors why not try having
a 'Navy Shower' the concept is that you switch the shower on and wet
yourself down, then switch it back off and lather up and clean, then
finally switch back on and rinse. I personally tried this as a test
and could easily manage a 8 minute shower with the water on for just
over a minute. That means I can shower for a week for the power and
water it takes me to shower once!
5. When cleaning your teeth / shaving in the sink, turn the tap off,
you only need a small amount of water to satisfactorily carry out
these tasks, leaving the tap on is money (Water) down the drain.
6. When using your washing machine or dishwasher, only run them when
they are fully loaded.
7. In summer try filling empty plastic bottles with tap water and
store them in the refrigerator, it saves you running the tap to get
the water nice and cold!
8. Leaking taps are a major cause for concern, did you know that a
dripping tap can waste 3000 Liters of water every year? Get a
plumber to fix those dripping taps.
9. In summer try not to cut the grass too short, it exposes the soil
and grass roots to the sun and will lead to excessive evaporation.
Just raise the blade by an inch or so.
10. Purchase a water butt and divert your rain water so you have a
supply of water for the garden.
Article last modified: 4th March 2010
Article by Andy Mahoney