Eco Top Tips - Saving Water

[Dan Knowlson]

It's amazing how much water we get through in the so-called developed world. From cooking cleaning and washing, the average usage in the UK is around 150 litres per person per day!

Here's some simple and effective steps we can all take to reduce our use of this precious resource.

1. Check for home for leaks, hidden water leaks can be wasting water without you even being aware of it

2. Turn off tap while cleaning your teeth, shaving or washing your face. You can waste can up to 9 litres a minute by just letting the water pour down the sink

3. Take a short shower rather than a bath could save you up to 400 litres a week. If you do have baths, just half fill them

4. Fix any dripping tap, you can waste 90 litres a week which will cost a lot more than what might just be the price of a new washer

5. Only use the washing machine and the dishwasher when you can put on a full load. It wastes both water and energy to run only a half full machine

6. Fit water saving device in your cistern to save when flushing, this can save you 3 litres a flush

7. Install a water butt in the garden to collect the rain water. This will mean you always have water to use for watering the garden without the need to use fresh water from the hose

8. Using mulch on the garden with help the soil retains water so will mean you won't have to water the garden as often

9. Use a sponge and bucket of water to clean your car or if you use the hose, ensure you use a shut off nozzle so the water is not constantly running

Those are just my ideas - I'd love to hear your top tips for saving water, so why not post a comment below.

[Karen Maskall]

Use a steamer for cooking vegetables. This way you only need a couple of inch of water in the lower pan and this will cook up to 3 or 4 layers of vegetables in the steamer. Saves on energy too!

[Mamita Bhattacharjee]

Ya Karen. Moreover you need less time to cook, less Oil and good for you health too

[Karen Maskall]

Get those taps that are push down instead of those that you turn. If you find it difficult to use taps that you have to hold down there are taps that stay down for a short while and turn themselves off within a few seconds, still leaving you hands free for enough time to do what you have to do.

Great if you have kids as they won't be leaving the tap running whilst brushing their teeth. Great idea for everybody really!

[Karen Maskall]

Even shower savings can be made. Why do we wet ourselves and use showergel which is washing off almost immediately with a running shower? Why not wet ,switch off, wash yourself and your hair and then switch back on for a quick rinse off?

I guess its a habit just to leave the shower running freely but if you think about it ... it could lead to a considerable water saving.

If we imagine one very small tank of water to shower all the family that day... and the need to share this water ... don't you think we would be wetting,switching off and washing and then rinsing quickly?

The trouble with our water supplies is that it is not regulated enough and most people will just take full advantage of a free resource and waste it.

[Dan Knowlson]

One thing I'd definitely like to add is that there's a lot more that the water companies themselves could do to save water, particularly by getting working on fixing leaky pipes and reducing their own internal wastage

[Allana Lane]

I think every home should have a water meter and that it should be an expensive and precious resource. Yes expensive. Water is much more valuable to us than any gold is.

Now if we just think for a moment... people would be saving the drainage water from washing ( not loos) for the gardens as well as collecting the rain water. And they would be forced to buy organic cleaning products so they don't pollute the gardens.

And every home should have cess pits... that way nobody would be chucking bleach and nappies etc into the loos and sewers.

If people can't save water for the planet then they should be put in a position where they have to save water for themsleves.

Ps I tried the shower switch off Karen... it's easy to do and I reckon my shower was on for less than 2 minutes. I had to condition my hair which was to be left on for 3 mins so I stepped out of the shower (switched off) to do my teeth and back in for a quick rinse off.