To flush or not to flush?

mrs_motivated

ifs its yellow or brown it all goes down... in my house strange really - but i guess i do have a toilet phobia - however, OH pees on the plants and swears its good for them :eek:, I refuse to do that on account of scaring the neighbours (not quite as easy for us girls)!

bluebag

I was quite shocked at my mums water bill, most of the bill seemed to be standing charge and waste disposal charges, the amount of money charged for water used seemed tiny in comparison.

Might be worth a check to see if these elements of the bill have risen because no amount of water saving is going to lower them.

the_bet_maker

Yup, I'm very economical with all these other things.

When washing up I only have one plate for myself and rather than do a whole bowl of water just quickly rinse it probably only using a cup or two.

Besides I have very little washing up to do.

With regards the toilet and putting something in the cistern...I am in a private rented flat and the whole water system is tiled off so no realistic chance of doing that. I have no idea how they would access it should there be a problem with the toilet as the back of the toilet backs on to my second room so there is no access point.

I ordered a shower water saving head but it didn't arrive but asked for another to be sent out yesterday.

I am really glad I've got my head around how the calculate the meter readings now though.

I was trying to calculate each litre I was using (approx) to see if it would account for my usage.

They said I'm currently using enough for around one and a half people. I can only put this down to the shower and it being rather powerful (as well as the toilet flushing) and that I have one nearly every day- this isn't something I would want to compromise on as I go out alot and speak to people in an intimate setting so would not be something I would feasibly want to take out of my routine.

I tried filling up a measuring beaker to see how much the shower used in what time and it filled the one litre beaker in 10 seconds (= 6 per min). My showers take on average 15 minutes so that is (6x15) 90 litres. Is that alot?

The water peeps were telling me a shower can range from 30 litres up to 120 so I am presuming that is on the higher end. I have 4-5 showers a week so say 5- 450. Hmm that sitll doesn't seem like alot now or at least not as much as I had thought to account for the bill.

I already did a leak test which turned up ok. I also tested if the metre was going to my flat which it is.

Anyway I am going to be keeping a close eye. Hopefully the shower head will fit (provided it isn't a power shower) and will take the shower usage down a nice bit.

the_bet_maker

bluebag wrote: »

I was quite shocked at my mums water bill, most of the bill seemed to be standing charge and waste disposal charges, the amount of money charged for water used seemed tiny in comparison.

Might be worth a check to see if these elements of the bill have risen because no amount of water saving is going to lower them.

Oh ye I totally forgot about that.

I just remembered that when I did the calculation the non changeable/fixed things were what accounted for most of the bill. So in that case I guess there is not much to be done short of moving which I don't want to do as I love the location I'm at. So I guess I can let it be (still keep an eye to make sure my calculations are correct) but instead focus on making sure I can afford to cover the said bills knowing that i am doing all I can to keep them as low as I can.

Kittikins

Blimey, a 15 minute shower is a long one.....could you maybe try cutting it down to 10 and see how much that helps?

mrs_motivated

Kittikins wrote: »

Blimey, a 15 minute shower is a long one.....could you maybe try cutting it down to 10 and see how much that helps?

I agree a 15 minute shower is an age (especially in a powerful shower a bath would be cheaper) - I shower in about 5 mins.

Rebekah24

I flush everytime, have very low water useage

I shower at the gym
Wash up every 3 days or so - I just use 1 mug, 1 spoon, 1 plate
Washing clothes as needed

It is only me though!

HappyMJ

the_bet_maker wrote: »

I tried filling up a measuring beaker to see how much the shower used in what time and it filled the one litre beaker in 10 seconds (= 6 per min). My showers take on average 15 minutes so that is (6x15) 90 litres. Is that alot?

The water peeps were telling me a shower can range from 30 litres up to 120 so I am presuming that is on the higher end. I have 4-5 showers a week so say 5- 450. Hmm that sitll doesn't seem like alot now or at least not as much as I had thought to account for the bill.

15 minutes is far too long for an average...

The water peeps are right you can get yourself clean with 30 litres of water and with your flow rate that should take you 5 minutes. Washing hair may take a bit longer. Don't shave in the shower put a plug in the bath and use the water from the shower.

You should be using no more than 1,000 litres per person per week. If it's higher than that try taking meter readings weekly and keep a water use diary to see how much you are using. But....How much does water cost you? In my area water is £2.20 for 1000 litres so skipping a flush on the toilet will save me just 2p.

psso

Cut down on shower time/water by having a `sailor`s shower` - not a lot of spare water on ships. Google if you don`t believe me.

Wet hair/body then turn off water, shampoo hair,soap body then rinse all the bubbles off. Job done.

marmiterulesok

I probably flush the toilet twice a day,but will flush if there's a stale urine pong!
After flushing I'll get the toilet brush out.If you do this regularly,then the toilet bowl never has a chance the become discoloured.
As for showers,I turn it on the wet my body and the cloth.I then turn it off as I wash myself.I then turn the shower on again to rinse off the soap/shampoo.Doing this means that I use very little water.When I sluice down the bath afterwards,I use cold water.
What's the point of having the water running as you wash yourself-it's a waste.
HTH.