WATER USE
We use water from when we get up in the morning to when we go to bed at night without thinking about how much we have used – each of our customers uses about 150 litres every day! To see if you know how much water different activities use try our ‘How waterwise are you?’ challenge. Then check to see where you can reduce your use of water, spot the water wasting activities, check out water meters, design a water-wise poster to help your family and use our online calculator to find out just how much water and energy your family is using.
Explore more Water Use activities
REDUCE YOUR USE
Your challenge – REDUCE your use
Check your progress towards becoming a water saving expert. See how many of these you can do.
| ACTION | RESULT | |
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Check your toilet. Is it a dual flush? If not, get a ‘save a flush’ | Save with every flush and remember to use the dual flush button properly |
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Have a shallower bath | Lower the level by 1cm and you could save 10 litres |
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Seen and reported a dripping tap | No waste at all |
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Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth | An easy way to save 9 litres a time |
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Have a shorter shower | Aim for 4 minutes |
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Only use the dishwasher or washing machine when they are full | We sometimes wash clothes that are not really dirty |
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Wash vegetables in a bowl rather than under a running tap | Re-use that water in the garden |
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Put a jug of water in the fridge for a cool drink | Hydration with no waste! |
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Use a watering can or bucket instead of a hose | Ban the hose! It uses 1,000 litres an hour! |
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Collect rain water in a water butt | The water’s free and the plants love it! |
See what the next activity is... Spot the Water waste!
SPOT THE WASTE
Can you spot the issues around the house below?
There are 11 clickable spots, click on the areas you think that water is being wasted for more information.
WATER METERS
Water in your home
We supply the water to you in large pipes known as mains. The very largest are called trunk mains. We are responsible for all the pipes up to the Main Stop Tap. From that point on, the owner of the house is responsible for the pipework.
Where the water enters your house is a stopcock. You need to know where this is so that you can turn off the water in an emergency. It is usually under the kitchen sink... see if you can find yours, you might need an adult to help you.
Water meters are fitted by us to measure the amount of water each property uses, these are at the Main Stop Tap usually in the path outside your home.
HOW MUCH DO YOU USE?
To really find out how much water your family use, ask if you can see the water bill. If you have a water meter ask to take readings from it at the beginning and end of a week and calculate exactly how much water you have used.
See what the next activity is... Design a water saving poster!
DESIGN A POSTER
Design a poster to help your family use less water.
You will need –
Sounds simple enough but to be effective really think about your main message, what do you actually want them to do and why? Is it: turning off the tap when they clean their teeth, taking a shorter shower, having a shallower bath, using the dishwasher and washing machine only when they are full or not leaving the kitchen tap running.
Identify where your family could use less water.
What will make your family change their behaviours, is it saving money, helping the environment, saving energy? Once you have decided what you want to say think about how it will look:
- Keep your poster simple, not too much writing
- The writing should be easy to read from a distance
- Think of a catchy slogan – these often rhyme or use alliterations. Alliteration means using words starting with the same sound; for example Bake a big cake for the birthday boy.
- Use persuasive words
- Include some colour and illustrations
- Maybe you need more than one poster - one for the bathroom and one for the kitchen!
WATER USE CALCULATOR
As we have seen, water and energy use are closely linked – if you use less water, we don’t need to supply as much so we save energy. If you use less hot water, you don’t use as much energy and that also saves money. Ask an adult to help you with this next part – tell them it might save them money and they will be more likely to help!
Go to our Savings Engine run by Save Water Save Money to accurately calculate how much water and energy your family use. Answer a few questions and it will do the rest. You will get suggestions of where to save water, how much money your family could save and you can also ask them to send you a free water saving pack full of water saving devices, some of which you can choose yourself. You will also be able to compare how well you are doing compared to other people that live near you.