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SAVE WATER, BEFORE YOU NEED IT
在你急需之前，請節約用水
Source: Google Images | Did you know? The breakdown of water usage in our daily lives is like so:
Toilet = 20% | Washing clothes = 19% | Showering = 19% | Taps (faucets) = 19% | Water leakage = 14% | Baths = 5% | Dishwasher = 1% | Other = 3%
Water accounts for 70% of the earth's surface, but only 3% of the water is suitable for human consumption. Even if you live in a place with plenty of rain, the water you use will need energy, transportation, heating, disposal and a number of other things.
The average family of 4 uses 450 litres of water a day, that's about 164.000 litres a year.
However, fine people, fortunately there are many ways we can save water.
I really hope you enjoy and get value from this post...
Source: Google Images | Water is the source of life, please conserve water
Indoor water conservation
Tap water : when you brush your teeth, shave, wash your hands, clean a dish, remember to not leave the tap running.
Showering:
Step 1: turn on the water, wet your body and hair, turn off the water and
then get to work with your washing products...
Step 2: shampoo in the hair, whip your hair back so you can get at your face, face wash onto the face and then shower gel all over the body. Turn on the water again and wash out the shampoo, facewash and shower gel.
Step 3: enjoy the feeling of a beautifully clean body under some hot water for 10 seconds (GO ON! TREAT YOURSELF!)
Step 4: (optional) condition your hair
Step 5: here is the life-changing part! Turn the shower to cold and experience a lovely blast of really cold water. Shocking your body is good for you! (Perhaps The Bulk House will write a most about this in the near future) and after a few times of doing this you will be used to this and you'll love the fresh "well now I am definitely awake and ready for the day" feeling it will give you.
Turn off the water while you brush your teeth and save 4 gallons a minute. That's 200 gallons a week for a family of 4.
Source: Baidu Images | Put the plug in the sink when you are washing your face so you can use the water in the sink a number of times instead of just running the tap with the water flying down the plug hole.
Be conscious when using water. Try to remember as much as possible how fortunate we are. If you are reading this, you have access to the internet and a phone or computer, that means you are very fortunate. "It is not happy people that are thankful. It is thankful people who are happy."
Again, put the plug in the sink when you are shaving so you can use the water in the sink a number of times instead of just running the tap with the water flying down the plug hole.
Don't leave the water running when you are washing your hands. Tap on, wet hands, tap off, soap hands, rub them together, tap on, wash off soap, quickly! turn the tap off again.
Put the plug in when doing the washing up. When rinsing: tap on, rinse the thing you want to rinse, tap off again. Easy peasy!
When waiting for the water to heat up, put a pot or bucket in the sink to catch some of the cold water and use it to water plants, cooking or pour down the toilet to flush the toilet.
If you have a filter you can also filter the water and put it in a bottle and throw it in the fridge.
Check for leaks on all taps/faucets in your home, also check for leaks in toilets and shower heads. A dripping tap or toilet continuously dripping can easily waste 100's of litres of water a day, a leaking tap or toilet which is more so flowing than leaking can easily waste 1000's of water a day.
Water consumption in the bathroom
You can install small devices to your taps to help restrict the water flow of taps/faucets in your home, search something like "low-flow showerheads" or "low-flow faucets", they aren't expensive and they often very easily fitted.
Shorten your shower time. Save water, save time and leave time for a more relaxed breakfast.
Use a timer of some sort to time how long you spend in the shower, you might be surprised how much time you are spending in the shower. Phone timer, stop watch or a clock in the bathroom? (Never thought about this, I don't think I have ever seen a clock in bathroom before).
If you are shaving, turn the shower off at intervals, tap on, get wet, tap off, shave, rinse and repeat.
What would be your one song shower song for this week? Let us know in the comments section.
Opt for a shower over a bath. On average, having a bath uses a lot more water than showering.
Having a bath uses around 80-100 litres whereas the average shower uses around 60 litres (this is based on an 8-minute shower).
With having a bath, it is hard to reduce the water as you always want to fill the bath enough to ensure your whole body is emersed. However, with a shower you can ensure your entire body is getting wet but just reduce the amount of water leaving the showerhead by adding a water-flow valve (as said above).
Another small tip (or perhaps a reminder) always hang up your towel after showering to keep it fresher and allow it to dry more easily. Doing this helps to reduce how often you need to wash the towel and it also feels nicer to dry yourself with a fresher feeling towel the next day.
Highly recommend you have your own towel instead of sharing towels with other family members, perhaps get different coloured towels to make this easier for everyone.
Using grey water (recycling water)
If you live in a house with a garden and have the ability to do this, a great way to reuse water leftover from your bath or sink, change your wastage system pipes so that they flow out to a tank outside so that you can use that water to water plants, your grass, wash your car, etc etc, the possibilities are endless! (They are probably not endless, I would assume a finite list could be drawn up. Feel free to do so in the comments section).
If you cannot easily change the pipes on your wastage system to flow outside, you could also get a pump and pump the water into small buckets or tanks inside your home and then carry those outside. This is a little more troublesome for sure, but just planting some ideas for how to water your plants in a much greener way (pun intended).
Grey water recycling systems
Grey water generally comes from the waste of baths and sinks, flowing from those parts of the house out to the garden. This not only saves water, it also effectively reduces your water bills, economical and environmental at the same time.
Don't use grey water to water edible plants (except for mature fruit trees) as the grey water could pollute the certain edible plants.
You have to filter the grey water with some sort of filter first with simple things, like pebbles or sawdust so that natural bacteria can help purify water.
More bathrooms should have these. There is no need to flush the toilet with perfectly clean toilet. This toilet and sink combo is a great solution for reusing water.
Reducing the amount of water you toilet uses
Check this little trick! Get a bottle, fill it with water (or stones or whatever) and put it into the cistern (the cistern is the back part of the toilet where the water fills up so you can flush the toilet). This will reduce the amount of water that will fill up in the cistern saving water and money. YOUR MIND BLOWN! Thank me later.
Some toilets can work like this, so, just test it out, if it works, great! If it doesn't take the bottle out. No one dies from this little test, so do not worry.
Remember to put the lid on the bottle, you don't want stones or random things floating around in your cistern (or at least very few people would want this, I shouldn't presume what you want and don't want).
A water saving toilet uses about 6 liters of water, this is all you really need to flush the toilet.
If you are installing a new toilet The Bulk House would like to suggest a water saving toilet.
If you are urinating you need only 2 or 3 liters of water to flush it.
A double flush toilet is great as you can choose between the small flush and a big flush depending on whether you are doing a small one or a big one.
You can also get double flush converter kits and add these to your existing toilet.
Another thing, if you have urinated, take a look and judge. Do you need to flush it?
Save water while washing clothes and dishes
If you can, use HE (High Efficiency) washing machines.
Toploader washing machines use around 150 to 170 litres of water, so with a family of 4 doing an average of 300 loads of wash per year, that is a lot of water.
HE machines (most commonly front loaders) use only 55 to 110 liters of water each time. This saves 11400 to 34000 liters of water a year.
Wear certain items of clothes more than once, this will reduce the amount of washes you do each year.
Washing the materials for denim, chemicals used, the dyeing process, making jeans uses A LOT of water. If you wear jeans, look after them and don't buy loads of them, this will save water amongst many other benefits.
Washing machine and laundry:
The next time you buy a washing machine, try your bestest to a HE washing machine (most likely a front loader).
You can wear the same pajamas for many nights (especially if you take a shower before you go to bed). Putting on a different pair jeans or a skirt everyday is probably quite unneccessary.
Socks? Do you need to put on new socks each day? I don't think everyday is necessary. What do you think?
Underwear, this is a tougher one. Challenge it. Test it. See what happens. Maybe go commando!
Don't change your clothes twice a day if you can avoid it. Plan ahead in the morning. Know you are going out that night after work? Could you wear the same thing you plan to wear to work out that night? If so, do it! Saves time on getting changed, thinking what to wear and on your washing (which saves money and the environment).
If you're going to do something that might stain your clothes, such as painting, gardening, or sports, you can save a set of clothes specifically for these events, and wear them several times before you wash them. Try to arrange these activities before showering so you don't need to change clothes or take a bath.
When it comes to laundry time, fill it up!
If you can, make the washing machine your laundry basket! Once it is full, turn it on (perhaps just fill the washing machine with dark clothing and your laundry basket with the lighter clothes).
Dishwasher/washing up:
Rinse if necessary, but do not wash the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher (amazingly some people do this).
Do scrape the plates well into your trash or compost bin.
Check the dishes are placed correctly into the dishwasher.
Check the dishwasher is well maintained.
Got good dishwashing detergent? Cleaning ya plates and stuff well?
Dishwashers (especially modern dishwashers) are actually more water efficient than hand washing, because they use recycled water. If you're going to buy a new dishwasher, check which model is the most energy efficient.
I wish all kitchens has dishwashers. My kitchen is too small for a dishwasher. Bother!
Save outdoor water consumption
Got a garden? Install a water meter.
You might be surprised to find that you actually used so much water.
Installing water meters boosts your consciousness and reduces water use.
If you water plants, install a timer on the sprinkler and outdoor faucet. Top tip! Water as the sun is going down, the plants prefer this (I'll explain the science another time).
If you already have a water meter, learn how to read it. Water meters can help you detect leaks in your house.
Check the water meter, and don't use water for the next one or two hours, and then check it again. If the water meter changes, something is leaking.
Many water meters have a small gear, and when the water is flowing, the gear will turn very fast. If you're sure you've turned off all the taps, but the gears are still moving, this means something in your house is leaking.
If you have a garden, don't leave the hose running then go away and do something else.
Adjust the timer setting of your sprinkler and watering system according to season. If the weather is cold use less water or no water.
If it has been raining you probably don't to water your lawn or plants.
If the water flows from the lawn to the sidewalk, reduce the amount of water you use the next time.
Think about how often you get your car washed. Does it need to be washed as often as you currently wash it?
When you are washing your car could you use less water?
Use the same method as showering. Wet the car, turn off the water, scrub it all over and rinse the car.
NOW! Look at your car and think, the car is clean, how could I keep it cleaner for longer? Yes! You have found the answer! Use your car less: save money, keep fit and save the environment.
Get a gun for the end of your hose, it saves so much water.
If you didn't have access to as much clean water as you liked for the day, what would you prioritise on? Use less water when showering, washing up, brushing your teeth, gardening and washing your car.
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