Water audit for green family

12:20pm Saturday 22nd November 2008

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OUR How Green Can You Go? series follows one west Wiltshire family as they learn about leading a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

The Gregory family, of Westbury, hosted a visit from Wessex Water, who gave them some vital tips for saving water in their home and garden.

After two wet summers, it might be easy to wonder why we should all still be saving water.

There are four key reasons

*Increases in population mean it is difficult for water companies to keep up with demands

*The more water we use, the more it is depleted from our rivers affecting the flow and ecology

*Treating the water to make it safe to drink, transporting it and heating it for baths and showers takes energy thereby producing carbon emissions

*Water is a natural resource and it is wrong to waste it simply because we can

By making a few small changes to our behaviour can make a huge difference to the amount of water each of us consumes.

Dave Hollex, regional regulations officer for Wessex Water, paid a visit to father-of-two Simon Gregory at home on Wednesday to talk him through the options.

Bathroom

Everyone now knows they should turn off the tap while they are brushing their teeth, but what volume of water is wasted if you have a small leak in the tap?

“A dripping tap can waste up to nine litres of water a minute,” says Mr Hollex.

“We do try and repair them for free for people, but we are sometimes limited as to what we can do.”

He said a dripping tap will waste much more water at night time because the water pressure is higher when there are fewer people turning on taps and drawing water off the mains.

Mr Hollex noted the water level in the Gregorys’ toilet cistern was much higher than the manufacturer’s recommendation so he adjusted the ball valve for them.

“That will save you about two litres every time you flush,” he said.

Products to displace water in the toilet cistern are available to the public to reduce the amount of water used when flushing, but Mr Hollex said it was often better to just adjust the ball valve in the cistern yourself.

Kitchen

“All the people who carry out water audits are trained plumbers so we can give you the best impartial advice about appliances,” Mr Hollex told Mr Gregory.

He noted that the Gregorys’ washing machine had a double A rating meaning it was good at saving electricity and said there were also machines with a water saving rating available. However, there is always a risk a machine that does not use a lot of water will not rinse clothes properly, which may irritate your skin.

He gave Mr Gregory some Tapmagic fittings to put on the end of the taps to save water.

Garden

The Gregorys’ have an outside tap with a hose attached and Mr Hollex recommends they try to use it less often and have a trigger gun fitted on the end to reduce the amount they waste.

He said it’s a good idea to clean the car with a bucket rather than a hose, as you are inclined to use less and recommends they fit a water butt on a playhouse they have at the end of the garden.

Hot water

The Gregorys’ have a hot water cylinder upstairs at home, but they are thinking of changing their system.

Mr Hollex said despite many people recommending combi boilers at the moment, he prefers an open vented system which involves a cold water storage tank in the roof with a hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard.

The verdict

Mr Gregory said: “The advice I’ve been given is different to what I expected - it’s been really helpful. I expected them to say I had to get a water meter but it’s not like that at all.

“We are thinking of replumbing soon and someone had said I should get a combi boiler, but now I’ll have a look at this other system instead.”

He said the family were planning to buy some water butts for the garden to water the vegetable plot they are planning for next year.

Top Tips

*Fit a water saving cistern device in your toilet to save one litre every flush. You can request these for free from Wessex Water

*Turn the tap off when you brush your teeth – a running tap can waste up to nine litres a minute

*Take short showers instead of baths. Be careful though, power showers can use as much water as a bath. See if you can challenge your family to reducing their shower time by one or two minutes. Fitting a low flow shower head will help you save water too.

*Wash only full loads in your washing machine and dishwasher – this will save you water and electricity

*Fit a water butt in your garden and collect rain water you can use to water your garden.

*Try to water your garden with a watering can instead of sprinklers and hosepipes as these waste a lot of water. Water in the morning or evening, so less water is lost through evaporation.