As well as being a basic building block of life and a precious natural resource, water is essential for modern living. Helping us to keep our homes, and ourselves, clean and tidy – access to running water is a fundamental requirement of everyday life. However, just because it’s an everyday essential doesn’t mean we can take it for granted. Using water in a responsible way can help to reduce our impact on the environment, save money and create a more sustainable home.

Though using less water in the home isn’t always, every litre you can save will help, reducing your impact on your local environment and boosting your home’s sustainability.

Use a cistern displacement device

As the Eden Project points out, you can use, “A cistern displacement device in your toilet cistern to reduce the volume of water used in each flush”. Cistern displacement devices are especially recommended for toilets that were built before 1993, as these units release up to nine litres of water with each flush. If your loo was built between 1993 and 2001, it will release a maximum of seven and a half litres of water with each flush, while a toilet built after 2001 will use just six litres of water every time it’s used.

Fix the leaks

Leaky taps and valves can waste huge volumes of water every day. Though most leaks are easy to spot, some are better camouflaged than others. If the flapper valve in your toilet is leaking you may not notice, but your toilet will still be using far more water than it should. To find out whether or not you’ve got a leak, put some food colouring in your cistern after you’ve flushed the loo. If the colour shows up in the toilet bowl, you’ve got a loose valve. Try to get any leaks fixed as quickly as possible to avoid wasting money and H2O.

Shorten your showers

The average shower uses between six and 45 litres of water every single minute. This means that shaving just a few moments off your time in the shower could save a serious amount of water.

Collect wastewater

To make the most of rainfall, and save yourself a bit of money, install a water butt under your drainpipe and collect the water to use in the garden. In some cases, it may also be possible to run the ‘grey water’ from your sinks and shower into the butt, giving you even more liquid for the garden.

By adapting your habits and thinking about how you use water, you can reduce your impact on the environment and slash your home utility bills. To learn about other ways you can make the most of water, take a look around our site or get in touch with a member of our team.