Saving water

How you can save water

Did you know 46% of people think their household uses under 20 litres a day? In fact, the average person in England uses 142 litres of water per day! Let’s work together to save more water for our environment, wildlife, and future generations.

In the bathroom

More than 70% of our daily water use is in the bathroom – and this doesn’t include leaky taps or toilets!

Showers usually use between eight and 12 litres a minute, taking a shorter shower can save water and energy costs. Keeping your showers to just 5 mins max – showering for just one minute less saves around 10 litres of water and £8 in energy costs per year.
Consider a water efficient showerhead, these add air to the water to make it seem like you’re using more when you’re actually using less.
A typical household spends 12% of it’s energy bill on heating water. So using less hot water will save water, energy and your carbon footprint.
Turning the tap off when brushing your teeth and washing your face will save you up to 24 litres of water a day.

In the kitchen

There are many ways you can use less water in the kitchen and save carbon and money too. Some tips include:

Fill the kettle with the water you need, rather than to the top, this saves water and energy.
Fill a water jug and put it in the fridge, rather than running the tap for cold water.
We all know the washing can quickly pile up. But did you know that washing machines use an average of 60 litres of water per cycle? By simply making sure you only wash full loads you can save around 10 litres of water every wash.
A running tap uses 15 litres every minute – so why not try washing your fruit and vegetables in a bowl of fresh water.
Use every space in your dishwasher before putting it on – each cycle can use 15 litres of water.
If you have a dishwasher, you can save even more time, water and money – hand washing your dishes can use 10 times more water in comparison.
Remember not to pre-rinse dishes – instead, scrape any leftovers into the bin and let the dishwasher do the hard work.

In the garden

We all love to have beautiful green gardens but it’s important to think about how we can garden responsibly to save water and protect our environment.

Making the most of the rain.
- Water butts
  Water butts capture rainwater that would otherwise just run down the drain from your guttering downpipe. Using a water butt to water your garden can save you lots of water.
- Watering cans
  A garden hose uses 5 times more water than a watering can, around 150 litres of water.
Leave your lawn alone
- During summer, let your lawn go brown, as soon as the rain returns it will go back to normal.
Planting sustainably
- There are lots of drought tolerant plant varieties which will look beautiful in your garden whilst requiring a lot less water. Some of our favourites include Coneflower, Catmint, Yarrow and Globe Thistle. The Royal Horticultural Society has a great page listing out lots of different drought tolerant plant varieties.
- Use mulch and bark in your garden, it will help to reduce evaporation by up to 75%
Clear your car with a sponge
- Washing a car with a hosepipe can use between 100 and 300 litres of water if the hose is left running.
- Use a bucket and sponge instead to save water. You could even invest in a microfibre car wash mitt which retains water better than a sponge.

How you can save water

In the bathroom

In the kitchen

In the garden

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