Save Water, Save Money, Save The Planet

gwynlas

Write to your MP about the lack of investment in the water industry.

With increasing population they need to build more resevoirs and fix leaks that waste thousands of gallons.

subjecttocontract

Well I could accuse you of being dismissive to people who don't understand the need to save every drop of water when there isn't a shortage of it. This is a discussion forum and will often be frequented by people who have differing views to you on the subject. If I wanted to save money on any of my utilities or regular bills, water would be somewhere near the bottom of the list because virtually all the others are more expensive.

Rosetta92

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgj8n48lnpno  Looks like drought has arrived. 

PollyWollyDoodle

There’s also this item on the BBC today.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8dv6l

It makes sense to conserve as much water as possible, it’s not just about money-saving; it’s not an infinite resource.  However since I am on a tight budget, the cost is also relevant. 

Some great suggestions, @PipneyJane.  Luckily I don’t have domestic staff 😆 so I can put some of these measures into practice.  

Green_hopeful

Even if there isn’t a shortage of water, and I understand that some areas of the country has more than we do. It still impacts the environment using it. Abstracting and treating it, before the cost of transporting it and then treating the waste water. 

-taff

subjecttocontract said:

Well I could accuse you of being dismissive to people who don't understand the need to save every drop of water when there isn't a shortage of it. This is a discussion forum and will often be frequented by people who have differing views to you on the subject. If I wanted to save money on any of my utilities or regular bills, water would be somewhere near the bottom of the list because virtually all the others are more expensive.

You've already stated your view is diferent. Why keep doing it if not to provoke? Why bother keeping an argument going in a negative way instead of contributing positively as the thread title suggets with Saving Money, Saving Water and saving the planet? If you don't want to be environmentally aware/friendly, then don't be, but all you're doing is acting like an argumentative child not expressing differening views...

And you must be very lucky so far with your water company. My bill has gone up a hundred pounds over six months. I expect the next one will be a hundred more too, which will be two hundred pounds more a year. 

PipneyJane

Nelliegrace said:

Don’t wash the car. 
Don’t power wash the driive. 
Don’t have teenagers.

 

Thanks for the laugh, @Nelliegrace

- Pip

PipneyJane

Green_hopeful said:

Water is a precious resource. Ofwat controls how much companies can charge and what they can invest in their businesses. Ofwat wants cheap water and sewage charges. Ofwat want the businesses to do things as cheaply as possible. The charges are not reflective of the value of water and our environment. We are super careful with water because we live in a very dry part of the UK. We often have no rain at all for a month at a time. We reuse as much as possible. We have diverted our utility sink to a butt outside so we can easily save clean water for reuse. For example from draining vegetables. 

So true, @Green_hopeful, re water being a precious resource.  It's often wasted in the UK, because when people think of Britain, they think of persistent drizzle and rain.  With global warming,  we will have far more long, dry spells, followed by severe, heavy downpours.  

Many UK water companies have under-invested for years, while giving their venture-capitalist/banker owners massive pay outs and running up huge debts.  (Yes, I live in the Thames Water region.  How did you guess? )

< clambers on soapbox >

Unfortunately, Britain tends to be reactive about so many things, and wastes money in the process. I am speaking in generalities here, but the UK has a terrible record for coping with severe water fluctuations, both drought and storms.  A bit of forethought in town planning would have resulted in the separation of storm-water drainage and sewage so that homes are not flooded with sewage when it rains, and treatment-works overflows do not pollute our rivers and seas with faeces.

Ditto, if you must build on a flood plain, why not build your housing on stilts (like in Queensland), so that when the inevitable happens, very little gets damaged?  

< / clambers off soapbox >

My Dad did something similar to you, re the utility sink, when I was a child, putting in a diverter on the drain.  Our washing machine emptied into a large sink in the utility room and, as we never washed clothes in hot water, he connected up a hose and used the washing machine water for the fruit trees/veggie patch.  No chance of accidentally cooking the spinach.

subjecttocontract said:

My Gas/Electric, Council Tax, House Insurance, Car Insurance and Phone/Broadband ALL individually cost more than my water bill. Why are people so obsessed with saving water ?

@subjecttocontract this thread is about saving water; saving money is a side-effect.  You claim that you cannot control what your staff - housekeeper and gardener - do; however you can control your own actions and small increments add up. You can also politely instruct your staff to model their behaviours on your own actions.

It is better to be proactive than reactive.

subjecttocontract said:

I think you're making an issue out of water shortages when there aren't any.

There are water shortages and farmers are extremely worried about their crop yields.  

If we all make small changes now, then perhaps severe restrictions won't come into force.

- Pip