WAYS TO
SAVE WATER
 Many
areas in the UK are experiencing water shortages due to drier than usual
winters, longer periods of hotter weather this summer and poorly
maintained water pipes and infrastructure. This has resulted in many
areas having a hosepipe ban, which means we cannot use hoses for
watering gardens, cleaning cars, patios etc., and, in some areas this
has now been extended to a drought order which restricts the use of
water for non-essential use such as filling swimming pools, watering
golf courses etc.
With this in mind I
thought I would feature some simple ways we can all save water – this
may also be useful for anyone on metered water. - Take a shower rather than a bath.
- Collect rain water for use in the
garden. - Don’t run the tap whilst cleaning
your teeth. - Only boil as much water as you need
when making drinks etc. - Don’t leave taps (faucets) dripping
– repair any worn washers. - Only wash full loads in washing
machines and dishwashers. - If you have a dehumidifier or air
conditioning unit which collects the water this can be used to water
houseplants as can water from defrosting a fridge or freezer. This
is distilled water. - Water remaining after boiling eggs can
be cooled and used to water plants as this is high in nutrients as
is the dirty water taken from a fish tank. - If you drink tap water and normally
run the tap for a while to ensure the water is cold, collect this
initial supply either in your kettle or to water plants etc.,
Alternatively, instead of waiting for it to run cold keep a jug of
water in the fridge.
- Wash vegetables in a bowl rather than
under a running tap. - Don’t over-water your lawn as this
encourages the roots to find the surface and can weaken growth.
Sprinklers are wasteful as they use as much water in one hour as a
family of four uses in one day. - Fit a water saving device in your
toilet cistern or replace with a modern one as these use less water
for each flush.
Unless we all heed the warnings we could end up like this.
Combination boilers often need to run a
lot of cold water before the hot comes through, as it has to run from
the site of the boiler through to the tap, which may necessitate going
first through a radiator and longish pipe according to the distance from
one and the other. Therefore, every time I turn on the tap, I either
fill my watering can with the cold, or spare bottles of water to use
during the day for kettles, etc. You could fill saucepans, too. It is
amazing how much could run away before the required hot comes through. Audrey M. Wood
This is not just a UK problem; you may like to
check out the infographic called ‘Water
by Numbers’ from bushmantanks.com.au which highlights some interesting
facts with regard to water consumption in Australia and easy ways in which
water could be saved.
My family likes to save water since we live on a well
and have experienced several sizzling summers where some of our neighbor’s
wells have dried up. In addition to your list for saving water, I have 2
suggestions: 1. We use the laundry rinse water to flush our toilets.
This is a bit more manual, but I’m sure we’ve saved thousands of gallons. 2. We collect the shower water that is run before the
shower gets warm enough to get in. This water is dumped in the washing machine
tub. We also collect the condensation water from our A/C and use that in the
washing machine too. I know we’ve saved thousands of gallons using these
methods too. Rik Carey
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