Tuesday 16 August 2011

Saving Water

We live in a very dry part of a very dry country and saving water is an ethical choice for me.

Some ways to use less water include only using the washing machine when I have a full load to wash and to wash our dishes in two bowls...one for hot soapy water, half a bowl to rinse off the soap.

Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.

I have 2 plastic buckets in the shower recess, we don't have a bath, which soon fill with soapy water. This water is used to help fill the washing machine or to flush the toilet.

Only flush the toilet "When it's yellow, Let it mellow. When it's brown, Flush it down."
It's just wrong that so many people in the world are drinking dirty, infected water and we're flushing away our waste in it!

I keep a bucket under the downspout to collect rainwater which then goes onto my pot-plants.

We never water the grass...it's tough and survives even our blistering summer.
Only water your vegetable garden early in the morning or late in the evening.

If you must wash your car stand it on the grass, soap it all over and give a quick rinse....there's no need to stand there hosing it for ages.

As we're renting we can't install water tanks but this is a great way to go for home-owners.


The beautiful Serpentine Falls slows to a trickle in Summer.....the river flows on to the Serpentine Dam from here but even in mid-winter our Perth dams are only at 28% capacity...that scares me.

This pic is from the Water Corporation rangers at Serpentine, the water is flowing into the dam but we need so much more.


Can you suggest any more ways to save water?

3 comments:

  1. I've realized that I don't need to wash clothes as often as I might. Underclothes get washed after one wearing. My husband's gym clothes, too. But unless it's beastly hot or I'm doing manual labor, a dress can last two days (or more), and my husbands jeans can usually go a few days as well. Cuts out at least a load or two a week.

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  2. I live a water rich geography. We are not tropically located, but there are times of the year when we might as well be.

    Still, I hate to waste the stuff. I launder only absolutely full loads of laundry. I once, fairly recently, tried to pack two huge comforters in a single load. Big mistake when the machine got to the spin cycle. Oh, well.

    I never water the lawns and do the vegetables only as much as they need, which is greatly helped by regular and satisfying rainstorms. I also live near to big water, and that keeps the environment nicely humidified.

    Water off when brushing teeth, washing face and prudently monitored when showering and washing hair. Washing dishes is in an experimental stage right now as I noodile around with using a dishpan and the whole got-to-be-thoroughly-rinsed issue. But, I am working it out and should therapy be needed, I know of a good support group for the dishwashing challenged.

    Oh, and I never, never, not ever dilute my whisky, so that is a significant water savings right there.

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  3. I've come to the conclusion that we live in the wettest part of NSW but I still try to gather water via 15 & 20 litre plastic containers. I use it in the washing machine. Guess that doesn't really help you being so dry. I recycle my laundry water eg. wash the whites first and then reuse that water for the coloured load. I also do the same with the rinse water. I worked out the amount of water for two loads of washing and it was such an eye opener. To wash and rinse one load of whites, I was using about 160 litres of water so for two loads it was 320 litres. I have managed to get that down to about 120 litres for both loads. It has made such a difference in our monthly water bill. In Jan our water bill was 14 kilolitres and from Feb it has been down to 6/7 Kls. When I wash the bathroom & laundry rugs, I will actually make a third load,(the are all dark). It does take more time but has worked for me.

    Gillian (Chiria)

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