The average UK household uses 160 litres of water every single day, a number that continues to rise. All that water usage sees bills typically sitting at a total of £415 each year.
Cutting down the amount of water being used around your home is not a great way of reducing your energy bills, you’ll also be helping the environment.
Follow these water saving tips to reduce your energy bills as well as your home’s impact on the environment.
Top 10 water saving tips
There are many water saving tips to help reduce the amount of water being used around your home, some easier to take on board than others.
These top 10 water saving tips will take you through how to save water around your home.
- Turn off the taps
- Only boil as much water as needed
- Only wash a full load
- Save water for plants
- Water plants economically
- Cut down use of the hosepipe
- Fix dripping tap
- Fit aerators to the taps
- Install an eco shower head
- Install a low-flush toilet
It might sound simple but turning off the taps can save up to 6 litres of water every single minute. So, whether it’s whilst brushing your teeth or doing the washing up, keep the taps turned off as much as possible.
It can be easy to fill a kettle, or pan, with more water than is actually needed and not only is this a real waste of water more energy will be needed to heat it up. So only filling the kettle with as much water as you need will help to keep your water and energy bills down.
Make the most of the space available in the washing machine by only washing a full load. The more half loads you do, the more washes you have to put on and the more water (and energy) you’ll be using.
Think about how much water ends up getting poured down the sink, like the water in a pan when your food has cooked. Instead of immediately pouring it away – in other words, putting it to waste – keep it in the pan until it cools down and use it to water the plants.
Another trick is to place a bucket in the shower to catch the cold water before it warms up that would otherwise go straight down the plughole. Unless you’re taking a cold shower of course.
On the subject of watering plants, using a watering can rather than a hose pipe or sprinklers can cut water usage by up to 33% in some cases. An even more economical solution is to catch rainwater for later usage.
Hosepipes are well known for wasting water, which is why it makes much more sense to fill a bucket with water and only use that when washing the car.
A dripping tap might not appear to be wasting too much water but those small drops build up to large amounts unless they’re fixed quickly. So if you notice a leak or drip from a tap get it fixed as soon as possible to keep your bills down.
Tap aerators split the water coming out of the tap into smaller streams, reducing water flow. As the pressure remains the same, it’s unlikely that you’ll feel any difference after fitting an aerator but you will notice a potentially dramatic reduction in the amount of water your home is using.
Eco shower heads are similar to tap aerators in the sense that they will help to reduce the amount of water being used each time you take a shower. Some models pulse the water out of the shower head, rather than there being a continuous stream, to reduce levels of water being used.
It’s also worth considering a shower timer to monitor how much water is being used, which will help encourage you to get out sooner.
Believe it or not, the average UK home flushes the toilet about 5,000 times every year and older toilets use 13 litres of water each time. So that’s 65,000 litres of water a year used to flush a single toilet.
Low-flush toilets on the other hand only use 4-6 litres of water per flush, more than halving the amount of water being used.
If you don’t have the budget to be replacing the toilets around your home then a cistern displacement device. These devices are bags filled with crystals that sit in the cistern and expand, saving more than a litre of water with each flush. They’re a much cheaper alternative and some water suppliers even provide them to homeowners for free.
Energy saving tips
We’ve been through the top water saving tips but saving energy is as important for anyone looking to reduce their bills and impact on the environment.
Lower the water thermostat temperature
The Centre for Sustainable Energy recommends setting the domestic hot water cylinder thermostat to 60-65. Reducing the temperature will mean that the heating system doesn’t have to work so hard in heating the water up – saving energy.
Insulate the hot water tank and pipes
Keeping the water in the hot water tank and pipes hotter for longer will save energy that would otherwise be spent have to reheat the water. The best way to do this is by insulating your hot water tank and piping.
Replace an old hot water cylinder
Over time, hot water cylinders lose their efficiency and the performance will suffer. Replacing an old cylinder with a modern efficient cylinder will help to keep the water stored inside warmer for longer.
Install a modern efficient boiler
If your current boiler was installed more than 8 years ago, you might want to consider a new model. Modern gas boilers achieve efficiencies of around 92%, a significant increase on older models, which will use water more economically and help to reduce your energy bills.
You can get free quotes from heating installers based in your local area for a new boiler installation by visiting Boiler Guide. Simply complete an online form, providing details of the work and 3 Boiler Guide Approved Heating Engineers will be in touch to provide free quotes for you to compare.
