By thinking carefully about your water use in the home and changing some water-wasting habits, it is easy to save water.
- Don’t leave the tap running when you brush your teeth.
- Keeping cool water in the fridge so you don’t have to run the tap until the water gets cold.
- Just boiled an egg? Once the water has cooled, use it for your houseplants. They’ll love the nutrients released from the shell.
- Install a water meter. It encourages you to watch what you use and could save you money.
- Only fill kettles with what you need, not to the brim. This will cut your fuel bills too.
- Lag your pipes to avoid bursts. If your house is unoccupied for a long time in winter, leave your heating on a low setting to prevent pipes freezing.
- Use the dirty water from a fish tank on your house plants. It’s rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, which provide an excellent fertiliser.
- If the water runs too hot from your tap, turn the hot tap down rather than just adding more cold.
Showers and taps
If you’re buying new showers and taps, choose models that have water saving features such as aerating heads. A tap with a spray head can save up to 80% of the water used in ‘ordinary’ taps. A quick shower uses a third of the water of a bath, but power showers can use more water than a bath in less than five minutes. A dripping tap could also waste as much as 140 litres a week.
Toilets
Modern toilets use less water than older versions – typically 3–6 litres per flush compared to nine litres with older versions. If you have an old toilet you can save water by placing a solid object in the cistern, or using a container than retains some of the water each time the toilet is flushed.
Washing machines and dishwashers
Put a full load in your washing machine rather than a half load. The average wash needs about 95 litres of water. A full load uses less water than two half loads.
New washing machines are much more water efficient and use about half the water of the average older washing machine. Similarly, dishwashers are becoming more water efficient. Be sure to check the EU labels when purchasing new appliances.
Collecting rainwater
It’s easy to collect rainwater using a simple water butt. This collects rainwater from your roof which you can use on the garden or to wash the car. Discounted water butts are available from Thames Water (external website).