Current Situation: In Hot Water? Water Saving Tips That Aren't Draining.
Updated: Jan 6, 2022
Sorry about the draining water puns...they just flow out of me... (groan)
But seriously...
As a busy family of four we know we use a lot of water, but do you know how much water your family uses?
We’re all pretty hot on reducing electricity and gas, but what about water? If we keep using water as we are today, by 2050 we’re going to need an extra 250 million litres of water a day but there won’t be any more water available, not without damaging the environment further.
The Facts & Figures
Did you know, having a shower uses 10 litres of water a minute on average; so if a family of four reduced their shower time by just one minute they could save 11,648 litres of water a year (as well as around £50 on their water bills/meter)? That’s a LOT of water.
Also, a single leaky tap in your house can waste as much as 5,000 litres of water a year. That means if we all fixed our dripping taps we could supply 120,000 people with a day’s worth of water.
Thames Water has shared some really interesting figures showing how an average family use their water. They show that 23% of our water is used to flush the toilet and 12% on washing dishes.
So what can we do?
Reduce your showers to 4 minutes; or to make it more fun, the length of a song! Put on your favourite tune, jump in the shower and sing as loudly as you like; when the song’s finished, so are you!
If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down; controversial but effective!
Unbelievably, a dishwasher actually uses less water than washing up by hand, but always do a full load. If you don’t have a dishwasher, use a washing up bowl to contain the amount of water and half fill, then simply rinse with clean water.
Never run the tap when brushing teeth.
When running the cold tap to drink, there is water wasted before it runs cold enough, this can be collected in a jug & used for the kettle.
Any water not drunk, use to water the house plants
Buy a reusable water bottle & use this for when out & about, always ask for a jug of water when out eating & refill.
Install & use water butts in the garden if possible use grey water on the garden.
Always do a full load of washing and wash on the eco setting if your machine allows.
You can also check your own water usage on the Thames Water water saving calculator to get a personalised report with your own tips for reducing water:
Let us know what you find out, and if it surprised you!