www.waterwise.org.uk
WATERWISE is a website dedicated to stopping water waste in the UK.
The group works with a range of businesses and groups, including water companies, local and central governments, manufacturers, retailers, NGOs, environmentalists, regulators, farmers, businesses, householders and the media.
The Waterwise website is designed to help reduce water use in homes and business. It contains scientific evidence of the benefits of water efficiency.
It strives to promote understanding of water efficiency and wise use of water.
The website contains useful tips on saving water in the home and garden. There is a children’s page, with fun games on a water theme.
There are also water-saving devices for the bathroom, kitchen and garden for sale.
Water-saving tips
A running tap wastes more than six litres a minute.
Drop a water-saving 'hippo’ in your cistern. A quarter of the clean, drinkable water used at home is flushed away. A new water-efficient toilet or one with a dual flush is more efficient. Alternatively, put a hippo or other displacement device into the cistern to save water.
A dripping tap wastes thousands of litres a year. Mending it could save £20 a year.
Fill your dishwasher. Hand-washing dishes uses about 63 litres. If dishes are rinsed under a running tap, the total use averages 150 litres. A dishwasher can use as little as 15 litres a cycle. Make sure you fill the dishwasher or you will be wasting even more than washing up by hand.
A short shower uses as little as a third of the 80 litres of a typical bath. Use a shower timer.
Wait for a full load before starting your washing machine.
Wash fruit and veg in a bowl rather than under a running tap.
Water wise in the garden
Sprinklers can use 1,000 litres per hour — more than a family uses in a day. Use your sprinkler in the early morning or late evening, so less water evaporates and more gets to roots.
A hosepipe spews up to 18 litres a minute. Use a watering can instead, to cut water waste. Or fit a trigger to your hose.
Soak, don’t sprinkle. A good soaking of plants’ roots once or twice a week is better than lightly watering
Invest in a butt. A roof catches about 85,000 litres of rain a year, which runs into the sewers. This could fill 450 water butts, to water your garden or wash your car for free.
Magnificent mulch — pebbles, gravel, cocoa shell, bark and grass clippings, in thick layer, will keep the soil cool, stop evaporation and reduce soil compaction.
Rather than a hosepipe, use a bucket to wash your car. It will save water and give a more precise wash.