How to save water

HOW TO SAVE WATER

• Don’t flush the toilet every time you use it – as the saying goes: “If it’s yellow let it mellow; if it’s brown flush it down”. 
• Install a dual-flush toilet – then if necessary you can use short flushs for a pee and a longer flush for the rest. 
• Put a suitable container in your toilet cistern – this could be a brick or plastic container or so-called hippo and it will restrict the amount of water used with each flush. 
• Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth – a running tap uses more water than necessary. 
• Take a shower instead of a bath – a conventional shower (as opposed to a power shower) uses around two-thirds less water than a bath. 
• Don’t use more water than you need to boil the kettle – if you’re only making one or two cups of tea/coffee, you simply don’t need to fill the kettle. 
• Keep a jug of water in the fridge – then, when you want really cold water, you don’t have to run the tap to get it. 
• Don’t run taps to rinse washing up – again this uses more water than you need for the task. 
• Use cold, waste water to wash out jars for recycling – it does the job just as well. 
• Only use the washing machine with a full load – even half-load programmes use more than half the water of a full load. 
• Only use the dishwasher with a full load – if you have to buy more dishes and utensils, then do it. 
• Never leave a tap dripping – if it needs a new washer, fix it. 
• Don’t use a garden sprinkler – it uses far too much water. 
• Use plants that can withstand drought – Mediterranean species like lavenders, rosemary and cistus can survive with little water. 
• Don’t overreact to a brown lawn – it will come back with rain in the autumn. 
• Use ‘grey’ water on the garden – this is old bath and washing up water (a reasonable amount of detergent will be no problem). 
• Collect rain water – this is most easily done with the installation of a rain butt. 
• Consider rainwater ‘harvesting’ – this is the posh version of a water butt and consists of a large tank that collects rain from the house guttering and pumps it into the home to be used for flushing the toilet. 
• Wash the car with a sponge and bucket – a hosepipe uses far too much water. 
• Consider installing a water meter – then you’ll only pay for the water you actually use and having a precise measure will encourage you to economise. 
• Report burst pipes immediately to the local water company – then make sure the burst is fixed as soon as possible.