Water bills are one of the more costly parts of running a home – and seem to get more expensive every year. The average household uses 349 litres of water each day, making the average annual water bill £4272 per year (according to Energy Saving Trust).
Most homeowners think there is little they can do to cut these costs, but we have listed below a few small changes you can make to save money on your water bill.
1. Take quick showers as opposed to long baths.
A standard bath uses around 80 litres of water whereas a 5-minute shower uses half of that. Better yet, if a family of four each only took a 4-minute shower, they could save 11,648 litres of water a year, saving £45 on water bills and up to £52 on energy bills.
2. Check for leaks and drips
A single dripping tap can waste 15 litres of water a day. Now imagine that for every tap in your house. Simply checking that all of your taps and shower heads aren’t dripping or leaking can save you a lot of water.
3. Avoid the tap while brushing your teeth
Turning off the tap when brushing your teeth is one of the easiest ways to save money on water. A family of five all leaving the tap running whilst brushing their teeth would waste approximately 20 litres of water per day – so switch that tap off!
4. Get a dual-flush toilet
You can also reduce your toilet’s water consumption by more than half, by investing in a dual-flush toilet. This gives you the choice of a full flush (around 6 litres) or a half flush (3 litres at most), allowing you to cut your water use considerably.
5. Install a cistern displacement device
Installing a cistern displacement device in your toilet cistern can save you between 1 and 3 litres of water each time you flush. That can add up to 5,000 litres per year. Most local water companies will provide you with a cistern displacement device for free if you contact them to ask.
6. Wash up instead of using a dishwasher
Make sure you wash up rather than putting things in the dishwasher. A washing up bowl usually holds around six litres of water, whereas a washing machine uses 55 litres. Alternatively, if you love your dishwasher too much to part with it – make sure you only do full loads! Washing five dishes in an empty dishwasher wastes a large amount of water.
7. Get a water saving shower head
As well as taking shorter showers, you can make even further savings by installing specific types of showers and shower heads.
Aerated shower heads, for example, work by mixing in air with water, giving you the feel of a regular shower, but saving a large amount of water. Most aerated shower heads only use around 6 litres of water per minute, compared to 12 litres per minute with a normal shower head.
8. Use other water-saving devices
On top of all these tips, there are also many other water-saving devices out there, such as tap aerators, plant water-saving gels, leaky loop detectors and water butts. So make sure to make the most of what’s available and get saving!
