The Great ' Extreme water MoneySaving' Hunt

floraldoo

We have 2 dehumidifiers running most of the day, they help with allergies and keeping the rooms warm in winter (we live in a flat roof house so damp is a bit of a battle). I keep the water from the dehumidifiers to water plants in the summer. Having read the toilet water tips we will use it to flush the loo now too! Pretty sure the dehumidifiers use more electricity than we would pay in water but we can't do without them.

JayZS

The downpipe from next door's garage roof used to just feed onto my garden. I have extended the pipe sideways a yard or so, and it is now used as a feed with which to top up my pond. Overflow goes into a bog garden. Very rare I need to add water to the pond except in extreme hot and dry weather.

Sulevia

Ok so I live on a boat so we have some particular issues ... we have to *go* somewhere to fill up our water tank. Not sure its capacity, I'm guessing about 700 litres. To make this last two plus a dog for a fortnight, we:
use 7-8 litres per shower, one each per human plus 6 each stand-up washes each per week (I know the amount because the water has to be pumped out of the shower tray after the shower is done);
use a half-mug full of water each to wash teeth and rinse the brush;
fill mugs to the brim before tipping into the kettle to boil;
cook potatoes then tip the hot water into the veg to cook them;
use the 'quick wash' setting on the clothes washer and always run it as full as possible;
wash dishes and pots in sink then rinse them in a separate pan of hot water - which is then used to refill the sink when the water gets too greasy;
water pot plants with water from the canal;
ditto for washing the outside of the boat.
Probably other things too that I now just take for granted!

POLAR_BILL

Why does everyone complain about water meters? We should pay for what we use the same as we have to pay for gas and electricity. As for collecting and storing water all over the house and the unflushed smelly, unsightly toilet bowls good luck to those who like carting heavy containers and don't mind seeing yellow toilet bowls just to save a few £'s. I think everyone should pay for what they use as some use way more than they are paying for and others use a lot less.

Ken68

You got it wrong somewhere Bill, my toilet is as normal, and the 5litre water container is not unmanageable and that in turn is cleaned same time as the loo and rinsed off with the next lot of water.
But as I said earlier, not for everyone.

MadMick1971

Hi
I have considered getting a water meter as we live in a larger property and there is only two of us.
The only thing that has stopped us so far is the fear that the water price will start to rise like the fuel prices, especially once most people are using then and saving money!

Ken68

I would think, Mick, that the savings are too great to miss. IF you can make it happen,

AngryPig

MadMick1971 wrote: »

Hi
I have considered getting a water meter as we live in a larger property and there is only two of us.
The only thing that has stopped us so far is the fear that the water price will start to rise like the fuel prices, especially once most people are using then and saving money!

This was my concern also (two of us in a mid-size house, now + 2 children), but when we moved to the NW and the water bill almost doubled, I bit the bullet and switched to a meter. In the five years since then, I have have kept track of the charges that I would have had without the meter to compare with our metered bills. This year's bill would have been just shy of £600, whereas we're on track for about £375 with a meter.
In terms of price rises, both metered and non-mertered appear to go up by a similar amount. I have calculated that the "break-even" water usage for us is 160m3/year, we're typically using 75. in 2008, break even was at 160m3, and we used 65m3.
We haven't gone to any real extremes of water saving, we're just careful not to waste it. But swithching to a meter still halved the cost when there were just two of us.

Bombay_Cat

'If it's yellow let it mellow. If it's brown flush it down' is excellent advice. I also collect the cold run-off into a bucket before I have my shower and it flushes the toilet twice. My 3 water butts are full to the brim and I can't keep the water in them over the winter as they freeze solid and split the seams. So I collect three bucketsful a day to flush the toilets in the hope they'll be empty before the big freeze. When I moved into my bungalow 3 years ago Anglian Water charged me £17 a month. I use so little they now charge me £9 a month. I don't stint on clothes, window or other washing so I'm not that mean with my water. But the water butts trick works very well. It could be worth considering as the water is no longer needed for the plants. :T

waterbaby59

In our last house, my husband connected up a grey water system for the garden that was fed by the bath and shower. He cut into the drainage pipe and used a diverter (like ones that go into a water butt) then hooked up a series of plumbing pipes that led onto the garden borders. The biggest pipe had strategically placed holes that dripped onto the plants and some holes had small feeder pipes that then diverted water off to where it was needed. Stunning system and we rarely had to water. In fact, it was so good, we then did the same with the outlet from the washing machine and dishwasher.

The only down side was that a couple of times a year, the system would need a blow through with the house as soap scum, fluff and hair would build up in the pipes.