Top Tips On How To Save Water In The Bathroom
Water shortages seem to be happening all the time around the world these days, especially in heavily populated areas. California suffers from drought problems, while areas of the UK - especially southern areas that includes London - suffer every summer. The UK government regularly initiates hosepipe bans, urging people to save as much water as they can. Obviously it isn't just the UK that suffers from this particular problem, but even if you're not affected by droughts you can still do your part to save water. This not only reduces your carbon footprint and helps the environment, but it will also personally help to save you money in the long run.
Given that the bathroom accounts for the majority of water used within the home it's important to be aware of the steps you can take to save water in this area. Below are the best tips I can come up with to help you make the most out of saving water in the bathroom, but if you have anymore just leave a comment and I'll add them to the article.
Do you try and save water in your bathroom?
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- Keep your showers short. Don't get me wrong, it's great to have a long shower sometimes (just ask my brother) but this obviously isn't going to help you save water. Overtime a shower can use a massive amount of water and will also increase your electricity bill. So the best way to save water - and money - is to limit your shower time to the period it takes you to get washed. We're talking about 5-10 minutes, you shouldn't need any longer than that unless you're prone to bursting out into song and getting through an entire albums worth before you finally get out. You could also turn your shower off while you're lathering the soap around your body, because if you're not going to be using it while you're doing that then there's no real point in keeping it on.
- Don't have a bath, have a shower instead. Generally speaking a shower will use less water than filling up a bath. However, you should refer to the point above about having a quick shower, because if you're going to be in the shower for a long period then you may end up using more water than a bath would. If you really want to have a bath then don't fill it up more than absolutely necessary, there's no point in filling it right to the rim when you don't actually require that much water. You may even want to consider replacing your bath with a shower, so read the 'Why should I replace my bath with a shower?' HubPage for tips on that.
- Turn off the tap while you're brushing your teeth. I've never understood why people would want to run the tap while brushing their teeth, it's not exactly rocket science to turn it back on when you want to rinse your toothbrush and wash spit away. This simple act can save you 5 gallons of water a day if you brush your teeth for the average 2 minutes. So the next time you're brushing your teeth with the tap running just think about how much water you're wasting!
- Check for leaks. That dripping tap might be annoying, but it could also be wasting a huge amount of water. In fact, if a tap is dripping at one drop a second 2500 gallons a year could be flowing down the drain! You should also check your toilet for leaks. The easiest way to do this is to buy some food colouring and put some in the toilet tank. If the dye appears in the toilet bowl within around 15 minutes then you have a leak.
- Check your water metre regularly. If you have a water metre installed in your home then you should check the metre while no water is being used. If the metre is still increasing during this period then you obviously have a problem somewhere in your property.
- Install a water saving device. A water saving device, such as this one from Hippo, reduces the amount of water your toilet uses when it flushes. According to Hippo the typical family uses 70% of their water in the bathroom, and a massive 30% of this is taken up by simply flushing the toilet. This simple device can save up to 3 litres of water when you flush.
- Get a lo-flow shower head. These can use a lower water pressure, ultimately meaning it doesn't use as much water. Modern showers have a whole range of pressures and water flows you can adjust, along with extra jets and other luxury's, these can use an awful lot of water though so keeping the pressure low is the first step to stopping the wastage of water.
- Get rid of your old toilet. A dual flush cistern on a modern toilet can use just 2 to 4 litres of water, while specialised products like can save even more water. This product is a unique integrated hand basin and toilet that recycles the water you use to wash your hands in the basin and uses it to fill the cistern.