How To Cut Down On Water Waste Throughout Your Home

Everyone is obsessed with saving energy in the home. We’ve seen energy bills go through the roof, so we’re all trying desperately to waste less energy. Whether this is by using eco-friendly ways to heat the home or following energy-saving tips; we’re committed to lowering our carbon footprints. 

It is therefore ironic that so many of us neglect another part of home life that needs our attention: water waste. 

We waste so much water every day, and while water bills aren’t that crazy, wasting water is horrible for the environment. It’s twice as bad when you consider scorching summers leading to hosepipe bans or droughts. If everyone used less water throughout the year, this wouldn’t be an issue! 

How do you cut down on water waste throughout the home? It’s much easier than you could imagine, so here are some critical tips to help you get started: 

Set A Timer When You Shower
Be honest here, how long do you spend in the shower? If it’s more than 10 minutes, you’re having a laugh. Nobody needs to spend longer than that in the shower; you’re probably only in there because it feels nice and relaxing! 

Setting a time when you hop in the shower ensures you never leave it running for more than 10 minutes at a time. You can maybe allow yourself a few more minutes if you have to wash your hair and shave, but aim to keep your showers below 10 minutes as much as possible. 

It’s reported that the average shower will use 12 litres of water per minute. In this scenario, every minute you’re not in the shower could literally save 12 litres of water. 



Don’t Leave The Taps Running
We’re all guilty of leaving the taps on when doing specific tasks. It happens when we brush our teeth or when we’re washing up. Water can be running for minutes on end with no purpose. Turn off the taps and only turn them on when you need them. 

For brushing your teeth, this will be at the end when you have to spit the toothpaste out and rinse off your brush. When washing the dishes by hand, run the taps in a basin to give you some washing-up water, and then turn them off. Wash everything in the water and turn the tap on for a little rinse at the end. 

Additionally, check all the taps around your house to see if they’re leaky. A leaky tap is painfully annoying and will waste so much water during the year. They’re easy to fix, so keep an eye on any dripping taps and address them right away. 

Learn The Right Way To Water Your Plants
We’ll take a quick step outside to your garden where loads of water gets wasted every year. The main problem revolves around watering your plants. Most people will either use too much water or water too frequently. 

As you can imagine, this adds up over the year to mean litres of water are thrown away for nothing. 

Two things can help you with this: 

1. Understand how much water to use for your plants & how often they should be watered
2. Collect rainwater and use that to water your plants

The rainwater idea is simply perfect. Using buckets or water-collecting devices you can store rainwater during wet periods. Transfer it to a watering can and you’re using a natural resource rather than wasting water from your home’s water supply. It’s a very clever way of subsidising your water use in the garden. 

Think About Swapping Real Grass For Artificial Grass
Another way to stop wasting water in the garden is by removing your lawn. Many homeowners consider this as lawns are difficult to maintain. They require constant cutting, watering and de-weeding. It takes a lot of effort to keep your lawn a luscious green colour - so why bother? 

You could put down patio stones all over your garden, or you could look into artificial grass. Companies like DD's Landscaping install synthetic grass in gardens of all sizes, specifically to help reduce lawn maintenance. Artificial grass doesn’t grow weeds and won’t need to be cut. But most importantly, it will not need to be watered. 

Think about how much water this saves every year - and then add up the savings over a lifetime. Not only will it reduce your water bill, but it will also help you protect the environment by not wasting water. 

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