• Bathroom
• Kitchen & Laundry
• Garden

Why Save Water

Water is one of the most important natural resources on earth, and is one that is most often taken for granted. Australia is the driest continent on earth. Yet given the way we use water, you would think there was an endless supply. Each year the typical Melbourne home uses 270,000 litres of water. That's equal to about 5 average swimming pools!!! It’s easy to see how we are placing excessive demand on our water supply. However, it's easy to save water in and around the home. All it takes is a little care and commonsense....

20 ways to save water:

The Bathroom


 
If you brush your teeth twice a day, for 3 minutes each time, and leave the tap running while you're brushing, you'd use around 5 litres per minute. That's 10,950 litres per year, per person!

(1). Use a glass of water to rinse your mouth after brushing. You could save 9,100 litres per year, per person.

Most "older style" showerheads use 20 litres of water, or more, per minute. So if you have a 7-minute shower, that's 50,000 litres per year.

(2). Install an AAA rated showerhead. It uses only 9 litres per minute. That's a 45% boost in its efficiency, which could save 28,000 litres per year, per person.

(3). Save water by limiting your shower to the time it takes to soap up, wash down and rinse off.

A leaking toilet can waste up to 16,000 litres of water per year.

(4). Check if your toilet is leaking by putting a little food colouring in the cistern. If the colouring begins appearing in the bowl even without flushing, get the cistern repaired immediately.

(5). Replacing your single flush toilet with a 6/3 Dual Flush

toilet can save up to 5 litres of water per full flush. In a home with 2 adults and 2 children, that can amount to a saving of 36, 180 litres per year.

The Kitchen & Laundry


 
A running tap can use between 15 and 200 litres of water each minute.

(6). Wash your fruit and veggies in a kitchen sink half filled with water (about 12 litres). If your washing takes around 3-5 minutes, you'll save 33 to 48 litres of water.

You can use 35 litres of water each time you use a dishwasher. So it’s definitely worth following the manufacturer's instructions to ensure you maximize its water efficiency.

(7). Don't rinse dishes before loading them into your dishwasher. Use the "Rinse & Hold" setting, instead. Also, do your dishwashing at night and save by using "off peak" electricity.

You can use 120 litres of water, or more, each time you use your washing machine. So make sure you adjust the water level to suit your wash load.

(8). Don't use your washing machine for one or two garments. Ensure you have a full load.

(9). When buying a new washing machine, choose one that is water efficient. You could save a substantial amount of water, as well as money, over the life of the machine.

The Garden

A lawn soaks up more water per square metre then any other area in your garden.

(10). The wise way to keep your lawn green during summer is to aerate the soil, feed but don't over fertilize it, and water it only twice a week to toughen the grass and encourage its roots to spread deeper.

(11). When mowing, don't cut the grass shorter than 2cm. If you do, the grass won't have enough leaf area to protect itself from the burning effects of the sun.

A "forgotten" sprinkler can waste over 1,000 litres of water per hour!

(12). Fit a tap timer to ensure you don't over water. And choose a sprinkler that produces big drops rather than a fine mist, which is easily affected by the wind. 10mm of water is enough to give your garden a good soaking.

(13). Put an ice-cream container on your lawn and turn on the sprinkler. When the water is 10mm deep, your garden's had enough! Don't forget to adjust your timer accordingly.

Watering your garden during the heat of the day is wasteful because much of the water will evaporate before it even reaches the roots. In fact, watering the leaves at this time can actually damage them.

(14). Water your garden in the cool of the morning or late evening, when your plants can get the maximum benefit from the water you give them. Frequent watering makes your plants shallow rooted and more dependent on you for survival.

(15). Water your garden less often, but more thoroughly. This encourages your plants to extend their roots deeper, making them hardier, and less thirsty.

(16). Installing "micro sprays" for annuals and ferns will ensure that water is efficiently controlled at a rate the soil can absorb, avoiding wasteful water runoff. You can save time. You save water. And your garden flourishes. Clever landscaping can save up to 50% of the water you use in your garden.

(17). Plant windbreaks to reduce the drying effect of the wind. Group plants with similar watering needs. Keep lawns to a minimum.

Using your hose to "sweep" your driveway/footpath wastes more than 1,000 litres per hour!

(18). Use your broom. It's quicker, more efficient and friendlier to the environment because you can add the rubbish to your compost heap.

(19). If you don't have a compost heap, start one with lawn clippings, leaves, garden rubbish and food scraps. As you keep adding to it, the "mulch" that forms can be used to save up to 73% of the water lost by evaporation in your garden.

If you wash your car once a fortnight and leave the hose running throughout, you'd use 1,000 litres of water per hour. That's 13,000 litres per year.

(20). Limit the use of your hose to a quick spray at the beginning, to loosen the dirt and grime, and at the end to rinse off the soapy water. You’ll save around 400 litres per wash. Even better, wash your car on the lawn and "water" it at the same time.

*Information on 20 ways to save water was obtained from South East Water.

*The lobster mascot was obtained from Sherman’s Lagoon by Jim Toomey.