TEN EASY WATER SAVING TIPS
I"m sure you don't need me to tell you that water is a vital resource – not only for us to drink, but to enable us to grow crops and raise livestock. Access to clean, fresh water will become more and more of an issue as the global population continues to rise, and our waterways become ever more polluted. Indeed a warning has been issued by the head of the Enivornment Agency that the UK will run out of water in 25 years, due to population growth and climate change.
The average water consumption per person in the UK is around 140 litres per day. Waterwise, an organisation that campaigns for water efficiency, have created a target of reducing that to 100 litres per day, meaning we all need to save around 40 litres. So how do-able is that? How can we as individuals and families reduce how much water we're using every day?
Here are some easy tips:
BATHING
Baths have always got a bad rap, and the majority of advice is to take showers rather than baths. However, if you have a power shower, take long showers, or have kids you might actually be better off having a bath. Here are some tips for greener baths:
- Use less water!
- Bath the kids together - if your kids are still little enough not to worry about it, chuck them in the bath at the same time. If they aren’t keen, see if they can be persuaded to go in one after the other using the same water (maybe with a small top up of hot if you’re feeling kind)
- If you're really keen, leave the bath water in the bath and use it to flush the loo for the rest of the day (use a bucket to chuck some down the loo)
SHOWERS
With the advent of power showers, these are no longer the clear cut water saving winner. But they still can be:
- Take shorter showers. The average shower duration is apparently around seven and a half minutes. Taking a four minute (or less) shower will nearly halve your water use.
- Stand a bucket in the shower to collect the water that would otherwise go the drain when you’re waiting for it to heat up. You can then use this to flush the loo.
- Use a water saving shower head. We found one that claimed to use 50% less water, and I was sceptical, so we put it to the (very scientific…) test, and it was true! It works brilliantly without any loss of water pressure by aerating the water as it comes out of the shower head.
TEETH CLEANING
This one is simple - turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. A running tap wastes around 6L per minute, so if you’re good and brush your teeth for the recommended two minutes, you could be sending 12L (or about 24 pints if that’s easier to visualise) straight down the sink.
THE LOO
- Fit a water saving device to your toilet cistern. Toilet flushing accounts for 30% of household water use. You can get devices like a “Hippo” that you can put into your toilet cistern that will save around 3L of water per flush. Alternatively you can fill a large milk bottle with water and sink that in there. Even if you only flush the loo three or four times a day, that's potentially 10L of water daily with the work of mere moments.
- If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down...
You may have heard this one before - the idea is not to flush the loo each time you just do a wee. We may have gone a little too far with this with the kids, and failed to explain that when they are at someone else’s house it’s not considered polite to leave their wee sitting in someone else’s loo. #parentingfail
OTHER QUICK AND EASY IDEAS
- Get a water butt if you have access to outside space and a downpipe. Collect the rainwater that falls on your roof and use this to water your garden and plants. If you’re feeling really keen you can also use this water to flush your loo.
- Keep an old milk bottle or jug near the sink, and when you want hot water, let the tap run into this rather than down the sink. Tip this into your water bottle, use it boil the kettle, or use it to flush your loo (there's a theme here...)
- If you have a garden, in the summer tip any washing up water on your plants. Avoid things like lettuces though unless you are partial to the taste of soapy water on your salad
- Run your dishwasher and washing machine in 'eco' mode - this uses less water and electricity, and only put them on when you've got a full load
- Wash your clothes less often - if they're not visibly dirty an airing might be enough. I'm also a big fan of simply sponging the mud off the kids school trousers to go again the next day...
