
Drainage
Do not flush wipes or pads of any sort down the toilet! In addition to clogging up our drainage systems due to their inability to break down, which causes a plethora of issues in itself (such as costly maintenance, repairs, flooding and environmental pollution), many of these also contain harmful micro plastics that filter through our water system directly into our oceans, harming marine life and the health of our ecosystems.
According to Water UK “In the Thames region alone, disposal of unsuitable products, combined with fats, oils, grease and food waste poured down the sink, causes 1,000 homes and 5,000 gardens to be flooded each year. The nationwide cost of unblocking the sewers maintained by the water and sewerage companies already runs to £88 million a year.”
Advice for Saving Water in the household (Source – Affinity Water)
In the Bathroom
- Shorten your shower – take a 4-minute shower instead of a bath – you’ll save around 50 litres
- Don’t overfill the bath – if you do fancy a bath try and use less water in it – it is easy to save over 30 litres each time
- Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, and save over 6,500 litres of water a year.
- Whenever you can, use the half flush button if you have a dual flush toilet.
In the Kitchen
- Save water and electricity by only boiling enough water for your immediate use.
- Fix dripping taps and you could save over 5,500 litres of water a year.
- When buying a new appliance look at the Eco-label for water & energy consumption.
- Only run your washing machine and dishwasher with a full load – this uses less water than two half loads.