SAVE WATER
Some Hints & Tips we advise our clients to do:
Over 80% of water used in the home ends up as waste water. Reducing your water usage reduces waste water, resulting in less treated waste water being discharged into the environment.
INDOORS
Change washers in your taps or valves as soon as they start dripping. If left too long the soft brass seat which they sit on could be worn away. If this happens the tap or valve might need to be replaced.
Do not run the water while brushing your teeth. Brushing twice a day for two minutes while running a tap can waste approximately 50 litres of water.
Add some food colouring to the toilet cistern. If the seal is broken the colour will appear in the toilet bowl within 15-30 minutes.
Kitchen sink waste disposers need lots of water in order to operate properly. Start a compost pile as an alternative food waste disposal method.
Check your shower is not using too much water. Place a bucket with 1 litre markings under the shower head. Measure the amount of water after 30 seconds at normal temperature and multiply by two. It should be around 10-12 litres per minute. Ten minutes in the shower at 20 litres per minute = 200 litres of water.
Install a flow restrictor – it will save you power and water and may mean that one of your family members or flatmate can have a hot shower after you!
Steady flows from the hot water cylinder overflow especially at night is an indication that the pressure valves need servicing.
Don’t wash vegetables under a running tap – put the plug in the sink or use a bowl.
Install a dual-flush toilet cistern. An average toilet flushes 11 litres of water per full flush. A three-person household flushes an average 15 times per day which equals 165 litres per day or about 60,000 litres per year.
OUTDOORS
Water lawns in the early morning hours. This reduces moisture loss from evapo-transpiration.
Install water-efficient sprinklers. Micro drip irrigation systems and soaker hoses are examples of water-efficient irrigation methods.
Don’t water your street or driveway – position sprinklers correctly.
Raise lawnmower blades to at least 75 mm. A higher lawn cut encourages grass roots to grow deeper, shades the root system and holds soil moisture better than a closely-clipped lawn.
Mulch to retain moisture in the soil.