There are many, many benefits to saving water, from financial and environmental, through to moral. At FixTheBog.uk we feel it is very important to highlight how lucky we are in the UK to have access to clean, hot and uncapped sources of water. Did you know? The UN states a human being needs 50 litres of water per day in order to prepare meals and to have enough for personal hygiene. On average, each person in the UK uses around 150 litres of water a day whereas many humans in Africa survive on 20 litres; that is the quantity of water that we use when having a shower for 5 minutes. Puts things in perspective huh!
Of course in a society today where our house hold bills are on the rise it makes financial sense to make simple changes that can make a big difference to you! Most people know the obvious ways to save water in the home such as turning the tap off whilst brushing their teeth, maximising wash load volumes and minimising hosepipe use. However, there are some other easy, less obvious ways that can help you reduce those ever growing water bills!
It can be easy to leave minor bathroom issues unrepaired. However, if these are left for too long, then you could be wasting a lot more water than you realise. Check your taps, shower heads and pipes for any leaks.
A dripping tap, for example, can waste at least 5,000 litres of water in a year. You can also fit your taps with aerators that will reduce the flow of water.
Another tip is to ensure your toilet is not running. The simple way to check this is to flush the toilet, leave for 5 minutes and then place a piece of toilet paper at the back of the cistern bowl above the water line. If the paper gets wet, then this shows that your toilet is wasting water.
The most likely cause of this is a perished diaphragm washer in the inlet valve causing the valve not to shut; we have a selection of diaphragms available.
However, if you isolate the water supply and the water still drains from the cistern then the most likely cause is a perished flush valve seal (for push button cisterns) or if the cistern contains a syphon, the diaphragm in the syphon may have perished. Spares available here;
Flushing the toilet uses loads more water than you realise. To create the most efficient flush system for your toilet, consider installing a dual flush that will allow you to use a half flush when getting rid of liquid waste only. Dual will only use approximately 6 litres for the full flush and 3 litres for the half flush, compared with up to 19 litres in some traditional toilets. If budget is an issue, then you can buy a conversion kit.
Plug It In
This may seem obvious but many people do not use plugs for the reason of saving water. We are constantly told about the importance of washing our hands well but the water wastage from leaving the tap running is not often thought about. Buying some decent plugs for your sinks to fill the basin rather than washing hands under running water could save you about 3 litres of water per hand wash.
Shower Head and Shoulders above the Rest
Choosing the right shower head could be the difference between using more water in five minutes than you would use filling a bathtub and cutting your water consumption by 25-50%. A quick check you can do is to put a container (about 2 litres big) under your shower head and if it’s almost full after 10 seconds then you should look to invest in shower head designed to reduce water wastage without sacrificing most of its power.
It can be easy to get complacent when it comes to saving water in the home but there are plenty of products on the market to make this easy. Repairs are essential and you should bear in mind that older bathrooms will waste more water than modern ones so a simple update of taps, toilet flush and shower head will do wonders. So get those drips sorted, update dated taps and smile when you see those water bills reducing - not to mention doing your bit for the planet!