5 ways to use less water and lower bills!

Did you know that the average person in the UK uses 150 litres of water each day (Eden Project)? 

To visualise it, that’s 75 bottles of 2 litre fizzy drinks bottles - per day! I was surprised by just how much water we use each day.

Why use less water?

Here are a few reasons:

1) It’s better for the environment.

2) Using less water can help reduce your water bill. The average annual household bill for water and sewage in the UK was £410 in 20/21 (Water UK).

3) The process to clean waste water is an energy intensive process so we would be reducing energy use (Eden Project)

You can also read more about why saving water matters on the waterwise website.

5 ways to use less water

I came across some easy ways to use less water so sharing them on the blog! 

1. Take a shower instead of a bath

Taking a shower rather than a bath helps to save water as, according to Ofwat, ‘a five-minute shower uses about 40 litres of water. This is about half the volume of a standard bath.’ Of course, if you take long showers then that could use more water than a bath! If you love taking baths, by filling it up only to 3/4, this saves 35 litres each time! (Anglian Water) 

Also, according to the Energy Saving Trust website, you can save up to £8 a year off your energy bills per person by spending just one minute less in the shower each day! So if you take a 20 minute shower and reduce that down to 5 minutes, you could be saving £120 per year.

2. Fill up dishwashers and washing machines before using them and use the most efficient setting

Using a dishwasher when it is full can be more water efficient than washing up by hand. Dishwashers use around 15 litres of water with every wash.  (Anglian Water)

3. Make sure no taps are dripping

A dripping tap can waste more than 5,300 litres of water a year (Energy Saving Trust). If the average person in the UK uses 150 litres of water a day, that’s 54,750 litres a year. A dripping tap could be around 10% of a person’s annual water usage.

4. Don’t leave the tap running

According to waterwise, a running tap wastes approximately 6 litres per minute. Remember not to leave the tap running when brushing your teeth! 

You can also wash fruits and vegetables in a bowl of water instead. According to Anglian Water, you can save up to 12 litres by using a bowl to wash fruit and veg, instead of running the tap! You can then use the water to water the plants.

5. Fill a bottle of water and keep it in the fridge for a cold drink

Instead of running the tap for a long time to get cold water to drink, you can fill a bottle of water and chill it in the fridge instead.

I thought that these tips are easy to remember and follow so Hubby and I are going to try remember them!

There was also a short interactive quiz from Anglian Water to see what kind of water user you are and some great tips!

Jess