Saving water

Using Water Wisely

There are many ways in which you can save water in your home, garden and workplace benefiting our environment and saving you money.

In your home

• Fix leaking taps – a dripping tap can waste more than 60 litres of water per week.

• Detect leaking cisterns - to detect a slow leak in your toilet simply add a few drops of food colouring in your toilet cistern. Don’t flush the toilet for an hour or so.  If the food colouring is present after that time, you have a leak.

• Don’t leave the tap running to clean dishes or vegetables, use a bowl of water instead.
• Fully load your washing machine as a full load uses less water than two half-loads.
• Cover outside taps and pipe work as during the winter, taps and pipes are prone to freezing and bursting – lagging pipework will help to prevent this.
• Have a refreshing shower instead of a bath. This can save over 150 litres of water per week. But be careful – a power shower can use more water than a bath!

• Reduce the duration of your shower – to help keep track of time in your shower, try using a shower timer.

• Install a Cistern Displacement Device (CDD) – this device can displace around 1 litre of water every time you flush.

• A running tap can use six litres of water per minute so turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.
• Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need.

One area where you shouldn’t cut back is drinking water – UK tap water is one of the best in the world so enjoy it.  Keep a jug of water in the fridge so there is no need to run the water until it gets cold.

In your garden

Save up to 125 litres of water by using a bucket instead of a hosepipe when you wash your car.

Collect rainwater in a water butt to use on your plants and lawn, or to wash your car.

• Did you know that it’s OK to let your lawn go brown? It helps it to build up resistance and recover immediately after rainfall.
• Attaching a trigger nozzle to your hosepipe you will halve the amount of water used.

In your work

• Educate your colleagues on the importance and practices of water efficiency.

For more tips on saving water visit the Waterwise website www.waterwise.org.uk