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Water Efficiency
Households across the country can make a huge impact to the nations water requirements by taking simple yet effective steps to reduce their water usage, become more water efficient and save water wherever possible.
Saving Water at Home
We outline some practical steps which can be implemented throughout the household or home. In essence, these are common sense solutions to saving water and becoming water efficient.
Baths or Showers?
Filling a bath can use an incredible volume of water, anywhere up to 100 litres! This not only places a massive drain on your hot water heating system, but uses significantly more than taking a shower. Always use the shower wherever possible as it is far more water efficient.
Leaking & Running Taps
Flow rates of running taps vary depending on many physical factors, such as water pressure and specific tap sizes, but typically can flow at a rate of approximately 10-25 litres of water per minute (litres/min). So whenever your tap is running beware that after ten minutes, that's often more than a whole bath full of water! This applies perhaps most often when washing up, washing vegetables or brushing your teeth. Use the plug and fill the sink or basin and use a glass of water to wash your toothbrush. This prevents waste and saves water.
Leaking taps are even more wasteful. Imagine it dripping, or in most cases running, hour after hour, day after day. The volumes of water pouring directly down the drain soon mount up to a vast quantity of water. Leaking taps should be dealt with immediately, often a very quick and inexpensive task. The majority of leaks can be simply solved by replacing a worn tap washer costing just 50p! A ten minute task for any plumber or modest DIYer.
Washing Machines & Dishwashers
A major demand is placed on our water supply solely from the use of domestic appliances like washing machines and dishwashers. Often a half or partial load is washed on a full cycle. This uses between 50 - 100 litres of water. Always fill your appliance with a full load to ensure better water efficiency, alternatively use a half load cycle setting on the machine. When purchasing a new appliance, be sure to check its efficiency rating to save water and energy.
Finally, only make use of these appliances when necessary. A few used glasses or a couple of t-shirts can easily be hand washed saving vast quantities of water.
Toilet Cisterns
Toilets use a sizeable quantity of water every day, that's before accounting for wastages, leaks or inefficiency.
A common wastage issue with any toilet can be a leaking cistern. Try placing drops of dye or food colouring into the top of the cistern. If this starts to appear in the bowl without flushing, then your cistern is leaking water into the bowl and down the drain. This can waste significant quantities of water without being noticably disturbing or districting like a dripping tap can be. Leaking cisterns should have their valves adjusted or replaced.
If your cistern is older, it is likely to have a larger capacity. The higher the capacity the more water is required on every flush. This can easily be reduced by placing objects inside the cistern to limit the volume of water required to fill after each flush. If in doubt always consult a plumber, but simple solutions include using a plastic bottle, engineering bricks or large stone to reduce the water capacity. This will save many hundreds of litres of water in a week!
Most modern toilet cisterns use a clever dual flush system, giving you the option of a small or large flush. A toilet consumes large volumes at speed so beware and reduce where possible.
Filling Kettles
Another quick and simple water saving tip is to only fill your kettle with as much water as is required. Never fill a whole kettle is your making just one cup of tea! It wastes water and energy, and costs you money!
Hosepipes - Washing Cars & Watering Gardens
We are all aware that hosepipes use a lot of water. Water the garden using a watering can, and cut down on the use of sprinklers. Wash the car with a bucket and sponge, this will provide sufficient water to rinse a car which will eliminate wastage when using a hosepipe.
Simple Water Efficiency Steps
By adopting just a few of these simple steps, we can instantly save hundreds of litres of water in our daily routines, cutting our household utility costs and reducing our water wastage.
