The cheap man's gray water, saving £10 per month

HappyMJ

Replace the loo?

£60 or so for a dual flush 6L/4L toilet. Pretty easy job to replace you could DIY or pay someone to install it.

The payback time would only be a few years.

My advice don't flush at all after a pee....just leave it there. I spray a bit of bleach around the rim so it don't smell....and it gets a full flush once/twice a day anyway so won't be there long enough to smell.

stator

Sorry I even bothered posting this to be honest. Please forget about it and don't drag it up again.

Moneymaker

On the contrary, I found it really interesting. I remember, many years ago, my dad put a brick in the cistern so it held less water.

Whenever I leave a bath full of hot water, I fill a gallon plastic container and it keeps my legs warm all evening. The remaining water stays in the bath till it's cold. I guess I could use it to flush the loo.

sniggings

Saving water is all well and good but you have to save an awful lot before you would notice it on your water bill.

The time and effort saving water (not to mention cleaning a bath out after having dirty standing water in it) is probably not worth it, 1000 litres of water costs about £3-£5 depending where you live, that's around 12 baths full, all for a drop in your monthly bill of £3-£5, so unless your efforts on not flushing the toilet every time and other measures you may take, are going to save 1000 litres or more, imo the effort needed to save the water doesn't make the savings worthwhile.

Add in the cost of extra cleaning products for the toilet too, then the saving may not even be £3.

Not having a go at the OP here either, just coming to the realisation myself, as I have just moved into a property with a water meter, I've been driving myself mad worrying about every little drop, I see now you can only go so far, the odd extra toilet flush etc is not going to send my bill sky rocketing.

diamonds

You could all just move to Scotland where the tap water is tasty & good for you & the Brucey bonus - Scottish Water is still public owned and a pittance per month on your council tax.

Ilona

stator wrote: »

Sorry I even bothered posting this to be honest. Please forget about it and don't drag it up again.

This post is interesting, everyone should be striving to save water, if not for the monetary gains, then think about being kind to the planet. Water is a precious commodity, to flush after a pee is just wasteful.

I leave my bath water in the bath and use it for flushing the toilet. You don't need extra cleaning products for the bath, just wash all round the bath with a cloth as the level goes down. A spray bottle with diluted wash up liquid in it does the job just fine. I also have a down stairs toilet which I flush with rain water, collected in buckets and bowls in the garden. My water bills are really low.
Ilona

naturaljazz

Sniggings - i have cut my water bill from £52 a month to £40 a month by not flushing every time, and using rainwater on my garden always. Simple as that. My loo does notget dirty, I can put a drop of the thin cheap bleach down overnight, and that is all that is needed. I am on a very low income so this saving is brilliant

sniggings

naturaljazz wrote: »

Sniggings - i have cut my water bill from £52 a month to £40 a month by not flushing every time, and using rainwater on my garden always. Simple as that. My loo does notget dirty, I can put a drop of the thin cheap bleach down overnight, and that is all that is needed. I am on a very low income so this saving is brilliant

I was making the point that you need to be aware of the savings possible and what steps you are able AND willing to make, to get those savings.

In my case, I do not have a garden, so no savings there, those that have a garden could make quite big savings.

I don't have a car, so again, no car washing saving possible for me, but again others could make a saving there.

For you to be making that saving, you would be likely saving 2000-3000 ltres, which is more than I use, such a saving would be impossible for me.

As I said, not flushing is not going to make the saving some think it will, you need much biggest savings, such as those I mentioned above,watering the garden etc.

Each person needs to make the judgement themselves, based on the actual cost of the water and what savings they are likely to make before taking measures such as using bath water to flush the toilet,thinking the bill will be £10 a month cheaper, when it's likely to hardly change.

Trust me, if I could save £12 a month on water, I would.