9 top tips to save water (and money)
The typical British summer – it never seems to fail. One minute it might be pouring with rain, but the next moment householders are facing a prolonged drought.
If we are in for one of those all too rare, gloriously sunny, but horribly parched summers, it may become more important than ever to be careful about the water we use.
Even if we aren’t facing a drought, saving water helps save you money – and at KAPUT, as you know, we like saving people money!
Here are a few water saving tips:
Save water, save money
- on the 28th of June 2016, the Mirror newspaper reported a recently launched government campaign to help cut the costs of domestic water consumption and reduce wastage;
- the campaign qualifies more than 15 million British households for free energy and water saving products designed to “save water, save money”;
- in addition to any free water saving products to which you might be entitled, it is also important to keep water efficiency in mind when installing or replacing fittings such as showerheads, taps, and toilets, or domestic appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers;
- one of the keys to the efficient use of the water you use may lie in the installation of a water meter, so that you know what volume of water you are using – and perhaps more importantly, and a strong incentive to cutting out waste, just how much you are paying for it;
- washing machines are heavy consumers of water, of course, so make sure that no drop is wasted by using it to wash a single full load rather than numerous smaller loads;
- sunny days are thirsty days – so instead of having to let water run to waste until the tap water is cool, keep a jug of the stuff nicely chilling in the fridge;
Drip, drip, drip
- dripping taps are notoriously wasteful – an average of 15 litres a day, or 15,000 litres a year – of water may be lost through a steadily dripping tap, so it is more than worthwhile getting it fixed;
Cleaning your teeth
- a habit which is worth learning to break is leaving on the cold water tap whilst you brush your teeth – this uses an estimated 6 litres of water every minute, and your teeth will be no less clean if you turn off the water between brush strokes;
- the simplest of displacement devices placed in the cistern of your toilet is going to reduce the amount of valuable water discharged every time you flush it;
- the environmentally conscious Eden Project of course recognises the importance of the Englishman’s garden – even though it is one of the thirstiest culprits during times of drought;
- but the garden does not need to suffer if you took the advance precaution of connecting your rainwater downpipes to water butt for storage;
- water from this might be used not only on the garden, but also for washing windows and cleaning your car;
- it is for good reason that a hosepipe ban may be issued during periods of drought, since using one may consume 1,000 litres of water an hour – use a watering can instead, preferably in the early morning or late evening, in order to reduce evaporation.
With really very little effort and only moderate common sense, therefore, you may be able to play your part in saving precious water - and money!
In a press release we issued earlier this year KAPUT warned that as many as 70% of consumers failed to appreciate the way in which warranty insurance works and that the age group most likely to have this gap in their knowledge are 45 to 54 year olds.