What can YOU contribute to the general effort of conserving water?
Residential consumers can reduce their water consumption, and thereby also reduce water charges, by guarding against water leaks, and by taking simple steps to use water more efficiently. Using water-efficient appliances and re-using water for household chores are a few of the many ways in which consumers can contribute to reducing demand and protecting the environment. Residential consumers, as well as larger commercial consumers, can also consider installing rainwater harvesting systems as a way of contributing to reducing consumption of PUC water and as a means of reducing dependence on external sources.
Hover over the dots and triangles below to see how you can be more energy conscious at home!
Collect rainwater to bathe your pets, clean your driveway or wash your car
TV and other electrical appliancesX
Do not leave appliances such as TV, mobile phone chargers and hi-fi stereo systems on standby mode as they continue to consume energy.
Match pan or pot size to stove plate. Heat is wasted when a small pot is placed on a large burner.
Sinks and Faucets
- Reuse waste water from your kitchen for watering your plants.
- Check shower and sink faucets regularly for leaks and repair them as soon as possible. Remember that every drop costs and every drop counts.
Reuse waste water from your kitchen for watering your plants.
- Do not cram your refrigerator. The more items you put in the refrigerator, the more energy your refrigerator is going to use.
- Avoid opening the door of your refrigerator unnecessarily. Warm air that enters the refrigerator has to be cooled, and this in turn requires extra energy.
- Clean your refrigerator regularly. When thick layers of ice occur in the cooling or freezing compartment, your refrigerator will use more energy.
Your Washing Machine
- Do your laundry when you have a full load of clothes. Washing a half-full drum uses just as much energy and water as a full one.
- When purchasing a new washing machine, pay attention to its energy efficiency and low water consumption
- Water your plants in the morning when evaporation is at its lowest.
- Adorn your garden with drought-resistant plants.
- Put mulch or dry leaves around your plants to minimise evaporation during the day.
- Fit a nozzle onto your garden hose
Make use of energy from the sun. Use solar powered lights to light up your pathway.
Replace bulbs with high wattage with low-energy light bulbs or LED bulbs.
- Check whether your toilet tank leaks by pouring a few drops of food colouring in the tank. If colouring flows into the toilet bowl, there’s a leak.
- When purchasing a new toilet, choose a water efficient toilet with dual flush options.
- Save water by taking a shower rather than a bath.
- Turn off the faucet when soaping your hands, brushing your teeth or shaving.
- Teach the kids how to turn off the faucet well after using it.
- Use light bulbs that switch on automatically at dusk or if someone comes in the vicinity of the lamp.
- Clean the air-filters regularly. Dust that accumulates on the filter impedes circulation of air causing the air-conditioner to use more energy.
- Allow your air-conditioner to switch off automatically at night after a few hours leaving your bedroom cool enough to sleep on till the next morning.
- Ensure that the cold air does not leave the room easily.
|Energy Efficiency Rate (E.E.R)||Rating|
|8 to 9||Average|
|9 to 10||Good|
|10 to 12||Excellent|
DID YOU KNOW?
- Appliances with high wattage, namely air conditioners, irons, electric jugs, instant water heaters and ovens are amongst household items that use the most energy in your home.
- It is best to unplug electrical appliances during a thunderstorm. This is because lightning can cause a power surge which can damage your appliances.
DID YOU KNOW?
- A typical family uses 70% of its water in the bathroom, with toilet flushing accounting for 30% of the household water use.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Downpipes should not be connected into the septic tank as it floods the sewer system.
- Rags, cigarette butts, sanitary towels, baby wipes and cotton buds are some of the main items that clog our sewer lines. These items should not be flushed down the toilet.
Ways that you can save water - in and outside the home!
In the kitchen, water savings can be realized by washing vegetables in a bowl and then reusing the water to irrigate the garden by making sure taps are not dripping, and by turning off the taps between dish washings. Also, remembering to wash dishes only when there’s a big enough load to justify filling the sink. And instead of using flowing water to thaw frozen food, leave it out to thaw overnight.
Reflect on how much time you or your family members spend in the shower. Children have a tendency to waste more water in the bathroom as showering can quickly turn to playing around in the water. Shorten your shower time, as well as theirs by a minute or two. This can save as much as 560L of water each month. Also, consider replacing your shower-head with a water-efficient one that uses small sprays of water instead of large droplets.Turn off the water between washing and brushing to reduce on the amount of water that runs down the drain. Dual flush toilets are water efficient, but if you do not have one, reduce the amount of water used by ordinary toilets by placing a sealed pop bottle filled with water in your toilet water bowl. The bottle will displace the water in the bowl, thus reducing water consumed each time you flush. You only have to ensure you do not obstruct the mechanisms of the ball valve.
Outside The Home
A simple first step is to examine pipes carrying water into the house, looking for obvious signs of damage or water leaks. Any leaks should be fixed immediately, and if found before the meter, should be reported to PUC on 4678910. Once notified, the PUC will schedule a repair crew to examine and fix any leaks. Another step is to survey water-areas of our homes, again, to determine whether there are any leaking faucets or taps that need to be tightened or replaced.Avoid using treated water for outdoor uses and consider using rainwater or re-using dish, bath or rice water instead. For example, instead of using treated water to wash your car, park it overnight in the open. It might rain, and your car will be washed. We can use dish, bath or rice water to water plants today as much as we used to in the old days. Alternatively, you can opt to adorn your garden with drought-resistant plants that do not need too much ‘water-attention’, or you can water either at dusk or dawn to reduce the amount of water you need for watering plants.
At School & Work
Individuals can incorporate many of these simple measures at work to reduce on the amount of water they use there. For the traditional twist taps, close the water between washing your hand or your tea cup. If you notice leaks, or you notice that push-taps or sensor taps are broken or not working properly, report it to management.
Encourage your workplace or school to have a water audit of their premises. Water savings can be found in commercial enterprises through a water audit of when and how water is consumed by the business or school. This can be matched with goal setting to determine how much water reduction is planned and how that target can be reached.
Whether in a domestic or commercial setting, there are countless ways that we can all reduce our water consumption and recognize the real value of water, and they call start with us as consumers.