The good news about cutting back on household water consumption is that you can make substantial changes to the amount of water you use without having to pay a penny for any new equipment. Follow our top tips to water preservation below and save yourself some money too.
When washing up ensure you plug your sink bowl(s) prior to turning on the tap. Thousands of litres of water are wasted per day through not carrying out this simple operation.
Ensure you fill a bowl to rinse crockery or vegetables for food preparation rather than rinsing directly under a full flowing tap.
Don’t leave the tap running unattended or running fully when not needed for example when lathering your hands prior to washing. If you keep the water running while you are giving your molars some serious attention, you will consume between six and nine litres of water. Multiply that by the number of people in your household with teeth and the frequency with which they brush them. That is a large amount of water – and money – going down the drain.
Install a flow-limiting valve to your water supply that will restrict the maximum flow of water through the tap and offer a consistent maximum flow rate regardless of the incoming water pressure.
Shop water saving devicesStore a jug for drinking in the fridge meaning you will have a constant source of chilled water rather than having to run the tap for a period of time before cold water flows.
When installing a new boiler or tap try and maintain the shortest possible pipe runs from your water heater to the tap meaning hot water runs hotter more quickly.
If you notice your tap is dripping check joints and seals, if they are worn you will need to replace the O-rings and possibly the valve as well - a dripping tap can waste up to 140 litres of water per week!
Attach a jet spray aerator to your tap spout allowing water flow to be switched from spray to jet easily. Using the spray setting saves water and can make certain tasks quicker and easier such as rinsing hands and vegetables during food preparation.
Shop Jet Spray AeratorsInstall isolation valves to the hot and cold water inlet pipes. If your tap develops a leak you will quickly be able to isolate the leak and reduce the amount of wasted water. You will also still be able to use water around the rest of your home without the inconvenience of turning off water supply to your entire property for the duration of repair.
Set the temperature of your boiler so the maximum output temperature is 46°C this is hot enough to kill bacteria & cut through grease. If your water temperature is higher than this you will be wasting energy, risking scalding accidents and potentially damage your tap. If your boiler does not have temperature control, install a thermostatic mixing valve (TMV) this will achieve the same results.
“If your shower uses nine litres of water per minute, and you reduce the time you spend in it by just one minute, you could save a total of 3,285 litres of water a year. And if you’re a family of 4, that’s over 13,000 litres of water saved just from showering alone. And if you’re using less hot water, that’s a saving on your energy bills too.”
A hot water tap such as the Abode Pronteau range for example may not be an obvious way to save the amount of water you use, but how often have you overfilled the kettle just to make a cup of tea or for blanching vegetables or fruit? The precise delivery of just the right amount of boiling water for either task will save water and energy consumption too.
Shop Pronteau Hot Water TapsIs your toilet more than 25 years old? If so, you might want to consider installing a modern, dual flush toilet, with a split flush button. This will give you the choice of pressing the smaller button for a 4-litre flush (ideal for liquid waste) or the larger button for more substantial waste. Four times out of five you only need to use the smaller button. Compare using 4 litres to flush with a whopping 13 litres to flush if you have a 25-year-old loo.
The big beast in the bathroom for water consumption is of course the bath itself. We all know that having a shower will use less water than running a bath. Taking the bath out and replacing it with a dedicated shower is becoming increasingly common, certainly in an en-suite situation. However, if you are reluctant to take the bath out of the master bathroom a good compromise solution is to use a shower screen over the bath.
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