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Saving shower water

When we we’re experiencing droughts a couple of years ago I bought a couple of buckets and started saving our shower water to flush the loo with. I also bought a bowl that fits in the wash basin and saved water from washing our hands. We saw our bills drop from around £42 a month to just under £19. Needless to say we’re still saving our waste water!
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Comments

  • twopenny
    twopenny Posts: 6,878 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    As I've said elsewhere, I use a large poly mixing jug or two and collect the run of cold water before hot comes through.
    Goes into an old plastic dustbin that I painted and is used for watering pots. Leaving it allows chlorine to evapourate or whatever it does.

    Also I have a bath. I use the water scooped into a bucket to wash the car, wash the outdoor flags and such.

    And you can use washing up water on established shrubs in soil or on grass during a drought.

    Managed to have a bath but still keep my waterbill at the lowest point. Sometimes get a credit.

    None is difficult once you get organised and make it a routein.

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  • subjecttocontract
    subjecttocontract Posts: 2,450 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 23 January pm31 7:24PM
    A cubic metre of water is 220 gallons & costs around £2. We use 80 cubic metres in a year.
    There is no way in the world I would be looking to save water in bowls and buckets. I think the current water charges are very reasonable.
  • Katiehound
    Katiehound Posts: 8,074 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I have a small bucket that fits in the hand basin so if I am running the water to get it hot it gets used to flush the toilet rather than just go down the drain.

    We used to have a Solow rate here but that was phased out to the 'bog' standard rate. You have to be on benefit to get a discounted rate now
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  • BlueonBlue
    BlueonBlue Posts: 196 Forumite
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    The current water charges wont stay reasonable for long ......
  • Well that depends on what you consider to be reasonable and which part of the country you live.

    If I look at the running costs for my property.......council tax, electricity, gas, insurance....are all more expensive than water.
  • badmemory
    badmemory Posts: 9,106 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    How do you collect water from a shower cubicle?  That is without flooding the bathroom.
  • Liz1966
    Liz1966 Posts: 144 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    I use water from the water butt to flush the loo (except for number 2s when it gets a full flush). Water companies charge people twice for all the water they use, the first charge is for clean water coming into your property and the second is to dispose of the same amount of waste water, so you save twice. It also helps the environment by not using treated water uneccessarily to flush the loo. In my view, it's worth the minimal effort to make these savings.
  • saajan_12
    saajan_12 Posts: 4,489 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    The buckets and scooping is definitely a pain, but IMO this could be a market for plumbing to solve this - pipe water from the sink / shower drain directly into the toilet cistern. In private houses at least, its then up to the user to ensure they don't pour anything they shoudln't down those drains. 
    In some parts of the world they already place a sink directly on top of the toilet cistern, so its the same concept but with a bit more plumbing to move the sink to a more convenient location. 
  • Albermarle
    Albermarle Posts: 26,023 Forumite
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    A cubic metre of water is 220 gallons & costs around £2. We use 80 cubic metres in a year.
    There is no way in the world I would be looking to save water in bowls and buckets. I think the current water charges are very reasonable.
    A modern dual flush toilet uses 4 to 6 litres per flush, so using your figures above, each flush costs about 1p.
    Using a 'hippo' in the cistern can reduce the flush to 3 L.

    Probably the argument to use waste water to flush the toilet, is more valid from an environmental perspective/saving water, than a cost one. 
  • marycanary
    marycanary Posts: 297 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    A cubic metre of water is 220 gallons & costs around £2. We use 80 cubic metres in a year.
    There is no way in the world I would be looking to save water in bowls and buckets. I think the current water charges are very reasonable.
    Correct me if I'm wrong but don't you have to pay for it to be removed too? I pay more per m3 for foul water and highway drainage than I do for clean water.  Taking this into account, you may still think this is cheap enough not to bother with buckets and jugs. I don't bother but I might if I had a large family living at home.

    Currently, the standing and flat rate surface water charges make up 55% of the bill. Assuming I cut 1m3 per year, using buckets, jugs and bowls it would have zero impact on the standing/fixed charges but would save 1p per day in water/sewage/highway drainage. Using @Loobyloo2022 figures and the cost where I live they have reduced water consumption by nearly 6m3 or 1320 gals per month, sufficient for 72 baths or 500 minutes in the shower  - a very impressive result
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