ideas on how to save water

charlieheard

frugalfairy wrote:

Can I use water from the washing-up to water the plants in the garden? Or will the remains of the detergent kill them off? (novice gardener here!).

You can, though some detergents are worse than others. The best are things like ECOVER which will do the least harm.

This is usually called "Grey Water", and includes water from the bath and shower. It can be used to water the garden, or it can be used to flush loos. Plumbing for the latter is more complicated in your average house as you can imagine, but is fairly easy to do if you can get the builder to do it while the house is being built. That's usually going a bit too far for most people, though

frugalfairy_3

Thanks, charlieheard. I'll do that then (possibly not the loo thing and my house is a bit old to re-plumb!). I hope it doesn't come to having to syphon my shower water through a window and round a corner but will attempt to keep my little herb garden alive at least.

Gorgeous_George

I'd like some more water storage tanks. Preferably no more than 30cm deep and about 1m tall by 1m wide so that I cann hide behind the shed and down the side of the house.

Does anybody know if these exist or has anybody tried to make something similar using a pond liner?



GG

charlieheard

Gorgeous_George wrote:

I'd like some more water storage tanks. Preferably no more than 30cm deep and about 1m tall by 1m wide so that I cann hide behind the shed and down the side of the house.

Have a google for wall-mounted or thin water butts. Crocus do a couple: a space-saver for under £30 or a wall-mounted one reduced to under £300 :eek: I'm sure there are others.

One thing to be aware of: a freind of mine works at one of the firms making plastic butts, compost bins, etc. Demand for butts has increased five-fold since the start of the year, so it's taking a while to ramp up production and customer support to cope

lapat

1. dont wash your car
2.shower not bath
3.use your washing up water to water your plants
4.leave your lawn if its hardy enough it will recover in winter(if you do need to hose it as you may have to keep up with the smiths use a watering can)
5.turn tap of when you brush your teeth
6.install water saving devices in your toilet cistens most utility companys supply them free of charge either by phoning them or direct from there website
7.install 2 saving devices if you have a 9ltr flush cistern(usually installed pre-1990)
8.water butts are relatively cheap and some local councils sell them via there websites
9.direct one of your rainwater spouts from the roof of your house into the water but if it goes to ground/drain(you will be suprised what you will collect even with the smallest of rainfalls)
10.flush toilet on number 2's only
11. if your a large family a water meter will generally not benefit you
12.if your a single/couple definatley install a meter you can get them on a free meter option and you have the option to return to rateable value within 12 months(its actually 13 but they dont tell you that)the meter will stay in place for the next person that moves in.


im sure i will think of something else but hope that helps

lapat

oh yes if you do have to wash the car use a carwash where they are operable as the majority of them in your major supermarkets etc have the latest ones that recycle 90% of the water

there is some websites offering grey water alternatives but you have to be really serious as they take up a lot of space and can be relativeley expesive and depending on how you use the water they can come under strict water regulations which are inspectable via your water company and can lead to expensive alterations if not installed properley(there is also prosecutable offences for infringements if not rectified and the water companys are starting to take a hard lone on this) so if you are going to go down the grey water route contact your local water undertaker to seek advise from there water fitting section as this isnt a put down to plumbers but there is a lot of plumbers who will install and then leave you with the headaches then at least you have an idea of what the consequences may be if things go wrong.

there is a lot of major companys that are going down the grey water route due to the fact that water is in such short demand in certain parts of the country that they fear that there bills could multiply(highly unlikely as the utility companys need to get there assets in the ground in order before the regulator will let that happen)

boyznus

Saving water , well here is a great one , I set up a water butt, outside the bathroom above the height of the cistern, in the bathroom I added some extra pluming, to the mains in pipe it has a turn off valve , and then another valve and pipe going outside to connect up with the butt .The water butt takes water from the roof as well. Turn off the mains in valve and turn on the valve from the butt , gravity feeds the water in to the cistern simple.

So in the winter months when there is plenty of water, mains water is not required to flush the toilet.

But as it is much dryer now I fill the bath with the water from the washing machine , and pump it from there with a hose into the butt through the window using a small drill pump , it takes about 10 min to empty 75 Litres, add a bit of bleach while the water is in the bath this stops it smelling . That gives enough flushes for about 5 to 6 days .

The reduction in water consumption has been great , bill went down from £65.00 for 6 months to £ 21.50 , and the last bill for the winter 6 months was £13.45. So you see it works.

The saving on my water has off set the rise in my other utilities gas and elec.

Go give it a go. Cost £ 60.00 to set up last year , and most of that cost was for the plumber.

jonnydoe

Cardew wrote:

I wonder if people realize the cost of a litre of water?

I pay about 0.15 pence which includes the cost of sewerage.

Now I am all for saving money; but leaving toilets unflushed? Carrying in rainwater and pouring that in the loo? in 2006? Come on - you cannot be serious!

How on earth do you justify a computer and the internet?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Interflush Website
Did you know?

* Each person uses 150 litres of water per day.
* 60 of these litres are used for toilet flushing.
* The Interflush™ saves half of the flushing water, that is 30 litres per person per day.
end quote

OK if my sums are correct .15p a litre of water and average person uses 150 litres per day..

= 0.15p*150 litres = 22.5 p a day, or £6.75mth.. Hmm I need to switch suppliers I think...

charlieheard

jonnydoe wrote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Interflush Website
Did you know?

* Each person uses 150 litres of water per day.
* 60 of these litres are used for toilet flushing.
* The Interflush™ saves half of the flushing water, that is 30 litres per person per day.
end quote

OK if my sums are correct .15p a litre of water and average person uses 150 litres per day..

= 0.15p*150 litres = 22.5 p a day, or £6.75mth.. Hmm I need to switch suppliers I think...

Save 30 litres/day with interflush and thats £16 per person per year or over £65 for a family of 4.

Hmm, lets think, would I rather flush £65 down the toilet or have £65 per year extra spending money :rolleyes:

And then there's the whole moral and environmental thing of pouring purified drinking water down the toilet when there's a water shortage in much of the country.

Cardew

jonnydoe wrote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Interflush Website
Did you know?

* Each person uses 150 litres of water per day.
* 60 of these litres are used for toilet flushing.
* The Interflush™ saves half of the flushing water, that is 30 litres per person per day.
end quote

OK if my sums are correct .15p a litre of water and average person uses 150 litres per day..

= 0.15p*150 litres = 22.5 p a day, or £6.75mth.. Hmm I need to switch suppliers I think...

I think your sums are not correct - you have used 150 litres a day instead of the 30 suggested by Interflush(and Charlie Heard above)

I also query that everyone in their house goes to the toilet 10 times a day.

However if the sytem works OK then it is well worth having, but I have found they are not good with solid waste.

In the USA many toilets have a dual flush system. Hold down handle and release quickly for a short flush. Hold handle down for a while for a longer flush. Copes with both situations so as to speak.

They are probably available in UK but not as widespread.