Water Savings Ideas – Indoors
Water savings ideas: indoors.
Check your incoming water system: at least once per month switch off all taps and outlets and see if your water meter is still turning. If it is then water is running through it and leaking out somewhere on the house side of the meter. Call in a plumber to find and fix that leak.
Fix any obviously dripping taps or leaking appliances to prevent unnecessary loss of water.
Reduce the water used to flush toilets. Toilets cisterns use 9 to 14 litre to fill. You can cut this.
– Fill some 500ml or 1 litre plastic bottles (or Ziploc bags) with 2cm of sand or some pebbles then with water, cap them and place these in the toilet cistern. This takes up space when the cistern refills and reduces the water consumed for each flush. Rather occasionally flush twice to clear a toilet than use too much water every time.
– For the longer term, if your system is suitable, install a mechanism with two flush buttons; a long flush and a short flush. Use the short flush as often as possible.
– Some two-button dual flush systems are adjustable. If you already have one then make sure that the short flush is set to cut off quickly, using perhaps only 2 or 3 litres per short flush and 6 to 9 litres for a long flush.
Fit a water saving shower head and/or only ever use the shower at about half-pressure.
Take showers instead of baths.
– Have family members shower in quick succession so that the water stays hot in between.
– When running the water to get hot, capture it in bottles (you may need a funnel) that can be capped and stored. This water is completely fresh and usable for drinking and cooking.
– Alternatively, use a basin or bucket to capture that first cold shower water for other uses.
While showering, run the tap as little as possible.
– While standing over a basin or bucket quickly wet yourself down as quickly as possible (an alternative is to use a spray bottle containing warm water containing a few drops of liquid soap to wet and soap up at the same time using minimum water).
– Switch the water off and soap yourself (best is to use a cloth to minimise soapiness). Then wipe as much of that soapy water off as possible.
– Damp and clean the cloth in the basin/bucket and rinse off as much soapiness as possible. Then, once more standing over the basin, quickly run the shower for a final overall rinse.
If you’d rather bath then using a plastic jug, capture all the water to buckets before pulling the plug.
Unless very hot and sweaty, consider showering every alternate day. Every other day mix a few litres of warm water in a bucket and, while standing in the bath or shower, wet yourself down with a cloth, soap and wash followed by rinsing again with the cloth. Don’t run the shower at all.
Keep the shower-filled fresh water bottles in the fridge for drinking and cooking.
Keep the captured “grey” shower water in a bucket(s) by the toilet to refill the cistern for flushing. It may be an idea to switch off the toilet stop-cock to stop the toilet cistern filling with fresh water.
Alternatively, the captured “grey” shower water can be used for the first wash of laundry or for watering plants.
Keep a flannel cloth by each hand-basin in bathroom, toilet and kitchen. Damp this to wipe hands and faces, lightly soap and rinse off again. Run taps only long enough to wet or rinse the cloth.
Keep a cup by the bathroom hand-basin. Fill and use this cup to wet the toothbrush and to rinse after brushing teeth.
Use brooms to sweep inside (only if necessary mop using the “grey” water bucket). Clean windows using a bucket of fresh water and a squeegee or bucket and damp cloth followed drying and buffing with dry newspaper. No hoses.
Switch taps off when washing vegetables. Do this is a sink or basin with minimum fresh water
Place a small basin in the kitchen sink and stack dirty dishes and cutlery in there, in the end washing the items in the basin. This will enable you to easily use the washing up water later in the garden. However, if there is a lot of oil or grease in the water rather let it go down the drain, otherwise this may clog the soil around the watered plants.
Rig a system to connect the outflow from the washing machine to a drum (some use a “wheelie bin” that can be easily moved) from which this “grey” water can later be used in the garden or alternatively to a hose for immediate watering of plants. Preferably use washing powders that are organic and low in phosphates and salts. Note that “grey” water should not be stored for longer than 12 hours to avoid bacterial growth.
Due to the likely presence of fats and oils, dishwasher outflows should be allowed to go down the drains.
Use dishwashers and washing machines on maximum loads, done less frequently. Set all appliances to run on their economy cycles to minimise water use.