Top 10 tips to save water at home
A few weeks ago I was asked by my water supplier if I would like to have a free water efficiency check to see if there were ways I could be saving water, energy and money. Intrigued, and enticed by the ‘free’ and ‘saving’ bits, I said “yes please”.
An Affinity Water ‘technician’ duly arrived and spent 45 minutes checking all my water outlets - taps, shower heads, toilets - and quizzing me on the various ways I use water. I’m delighted - and more than a little relieved - to report that my water usage and consumption is pretty much as efficient as it could be.
Especially as he explained that each household in the UK uses on average 360 litres of water a day. That approximately 21% of household heating bills are spent heating water around the home. And that this equates to an average of about £140 per household every year.
My efficiency check parting gift
Based on my aforementioned water-efficiency, he left me with just one of the free water saving devices that the company offer, which include a bag that expands in your toilet cistern to save one litre of water per flush (I have dual flush toilets, which make this unnecessary) and a bubble stream tap attachment that saves water by packing the tap’s stream with tiny bubbles (not necessary because my taps all have aerated heads on them already).
The ‘device’ he handed me was a tiny plastic sand timer attached to a suction pad. It was, he explained, to help me have a shower that lasted no longer than the optimum 4 minutes.
I can’t honestly say I had any intention of using it. And yet…..I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away, and just knowing that it’s there, reminding me of one of the ways I can play my part in using less water has actually kept me to the, really perfectly long enough, four minute limit more often than not.
Here are my tips
Of course, consuming any natural resource as effectively and efficiently as possible is something we’re all ever-more aware of needing to do. So here are my top 10 tips for using water in the most economical way possible at home. Most of them are things I already do, so I can confirm they’re simple to incorporate into your life. A couple are still works in progress.
The one’s I currently do
Tip 1 - Shower, don’t bath, but not for too long
Whilst a shower is a more water-efficient way to keep clean (a bath typically takes 80 litres of water to fill), bear in mind that every minute in a power shower uses roughly 17 litres of water. So keeping your showers short makes water-saving sense.
I’ve found that starting my shower with cold water, as recommended as one of the ways to break out of your comfort zone, is not only brilliantly invigorating (honestly), but also a great way to keep the shower time short (I do let the water warm up after about 30 secs, I’m not brave enough to have the whole shower cold. Yet…)
If using music as a length-of-time-in-the-shower reminder would help, Waterwise have compiled this appropriately water-based play list.
Tip 2 - turn off the tap whilst you clean your teeth, shave and wash your hands and face
This one’s so simple to do, and so easy to forget to do. Maybe knowing you’ll save 6 litres of water a minute will be the prompt you need.
Tips 3 & 4 - only run the dishwasher when it’s completely full. Same goes for your washing machine
As far as the dishwasher is concerned, don’t rinse items before you put them in - modern detergents are more than capable of cleaning without that - and use the eco setting. For washing machines, a half hour wash (the speed wash setting on my machine) at either 30 or 40 degrees is more than enough to get anything perfectly clean.
Tip 5 - fill a jug with water and keep it in your fridge
If you like your drinking water cold, do this rather than running the cold tap. So simple, so water efficient.
Tip 6 - only boil as much water as you need
Conversely, when it comes to boiling water in your kettle, only putting in as much as you need is a great way to save both water and energy.
Tip 7 - water your plants wisely
Water your plants in the early morning or at the end of the day to stop the water evaporating in the heat. Using a watering can rather than a water-hungry hose is better, but if you do use a hose, attaching a trigger nozzle on it could halve the amount of water you use and enable you to direct the flow to the root of the plants where it’s most effective. (Using mulch or bark around your plants can reduce evaporation by up to 75%)
Tip 8 - keep on top of your plumbing
By which I mean, know where your water valve(s) is/are (I have two) so that in the case of a major leak or, God-forbid, burst pipe you know where to go to turn the water off. I speak from painful experience about how much water, and damage, you can save by being able to act fast to stop the water flow. But also know that a dripping tap can waste more than 5,500 litres of water a year, so make sure you turn your taps off properly and get any small problems fixed before they turn into big ones.
One I’m doing more often
Tip 9 - don’t flush every time
There’s an adage that goes: ‘If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.’
With the average UK household flushing the loo 5,000 times a year, and with each flush using anything from 13 (in the old-style single flush toilets) to 4 (with reduced, dual-flush models) litres of water, there’s wisdom in them there words.
I can’t quite bring myself to do this all the time, and certainly not when I’m expecting guests, but it is something I’m persuading myself to do more often than I did.
And one that I plan to do
Tip 10 - get a water butt
Installing a water butt to a drainpipe can collect 5,000 litres of water a year. Water that can be used for everything from watering your garden to cleaning your car, to washing your windows.
You can find lots more water saving advice and information on the Waterwise and Friends of the Earth websites
And if you also happen to be an Affinity Water customer, you can see if you qualify for a free efficiency check here
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