Forum Topic

FOE's 13 Best Ways to Save Water

Check off your own ideas against these to find out what you can do:https://friendsoftheearth.uk/sustainable-living/13-best-ways-save-water

Philippa Bond ● 1517d61 Comments

It's about time the water companies got to grips with all the leakages - which is somewhere in the region of 660 million gallons every day. This has been going on for years.

Brian Coyle ● 1516d

Your not wrong Brian, I don't use a dishwasher, the washing up water issaved in bottles for the garden, washing up liquid is harmless to plants.

Janice Evans ● 1516d

Brian, is that the same as the "what about China" reason to do nothing on climate change?

Paul Scullion ● 1516d

2.4bn litres a day lost from leakage, around 20% of daily use, its a massive number. As with all privatised utilities, regulation has been toothless while CEOs and foreign shaerholders pay themeselves huge numbers. All stories about London running out of water need to be seen in that context. Plus as an island we are not short of water. Which is not to say there are not real challenges and usage will need to be reduced.

Bill George ● 1516d

The water companies have to prioritise the most important leaks and gallons and gallons can be lost very quickly when there is a big break.  This is why it can be irritating when you know there is a leak that still has not been fixed.The fuss every time there are roadworks is incredible.  And to deal with a lot of these there is also lot of paperwork necessary that has to be done in getting permission.  Investigation work usually has to be done first before the rest of the paperwork and organisation of closing of roads and arranging of temporary lights, organising work teams and equipment etc once the problem has been ascertained.Weather and trees and constant and heavy traffic all damage the roads and also damage the pipework so it isn't a case of the work ever being able to stop.Privatised companies have often been asset stripped by their owners (Thames Water was by its Australian Banking owners) and I have never understood why anybody would think it a good idea to privatise anything as important as a country's water in a global market. So often important companies are now owned or part owned by other countries' state owned companies.If the investigations that should be done before planning applications for large developments aren't done either there follow problems for farmers and others already in that area. We now under the Environment Act have another organisation who are supposed to be able to regulate Ofwat...  How long before we need yet another to regulate that? Sizewell C has just been given the go-ahead against planning  recommendations - there isn't enough water availability and I don't think all the investigations and calculations have been done about the desalination plant needed for that.People in Oxfordshire are campaigning against a new reservoir 'for those people in London'. Meanwhile we unnecessarily wash our cars, pressure wash our patios and water our gardens with drinking water.

Philippa Bond ● 1516d

FOE don't recommend  "Take a shower (or bath) with a friend"

James Roy ● 1516d

Lol.  Wasn't that a recommendation in the 70s?

Philippa Bond ● 1515d

Walked through Chiswick Business Park few days ago and guy was jet washing one of the buildings, while I'm using old washing up water on plants. I emailed enjoy-work to suggest it wasnt such a good idea, but no response as yet.

Stephen Gould ● 1515d

Well done!  It's not exactly the best time.  I wonder what water harvesting they have there?  Hmm. RRP perhaps?

Philippa Bond ● 1515d

Using a dishwasher actually uses less water than washing up by hand ….. “Using a dishwasher can save you up to 24 gallons per load as long as you run your dishwasher every night.”

Madeleine Hazard ● 1515d

I don't think I'd want to put dishwasher water on my plants afterwards though.  All those dishwasher tablets have toxic warnings on them.With a dishwasher you have to be careful to make sure that you fill it well to to make the most of it.  I've noticed that everyone I know with a dishwasher uses a clean mug and glass every time they want a drink.Not everyone has a dishwasher and even if they have they often also do some washing up by hand in the sink.

Philippa Bond ● 1515d

Eco-friendly dishwasher tabs are very easy to obtain - and I can assure you, washing up by hand uses more water …… I have tested it A plastic bidon of water and a black marker pen showed that WAY more water is used washing up by hand …..

Madeleine Hazard ● 1514d

The point of not using a dishwasher is to save the water for the garden.

Janice Evans ● 1514d

The point of using the dishwasher is to use less water. You can easily siphon it off for the garden. Win win.

Madeleine Hazard ● 1514d

No idea - you tell me.

Brian Coyle ● 1514d

I'm pleased to see that you have found some less toxic tablets for your dishwasher.  It does depend on how much washing up you make.  I was desperate for a dishwasher when there were children around and a lot of washing up.  It isn't the same now.  I still think that having a dishwasher is a bit like having a car - if you've got one you can feel that you may as well use it.Have you managed to reduce the number of washes you do in the washing machine?  If you forget to put the soap in every so often you will find that you less!  And with the good weather managed to avoid using a tumble drier?

Philippa Bond ● 1514d

RRP now = RHSP, project started in 1999.  Buildings 6-9 are BREEAM Excellent (BREEAM was revamped in 1998 but didn't come into use probably until mid 2000s?)https://rshp.com/projects/office/chiswick-park/Engineers: Arupshttps://www.arup.com/perspectives/building-for-a-low-carbon-economy  I can only see something about the design with the fixed canopies and pull down fabric blinds reducing the amount of air conditioning on the RHSP website.

Philippa Bond ● 1511d

No 4 is to Reduce Food Waste.  70% of food waste apparently is made in the home.I see that supermarket after supermarket is now removing the Best Before dates from some items eg fruit and veg.https://resource.co/article/waitrose-remove-best-dates-nearly-500-productsPlease note these are Best Before dates and not Use By dates.

Philippa Bond ● 1511d

Collect pee and let stand in a container for a few days. It can become kinda 'farmyard smelly' but is a good nitrogen-ammonia feed to the garden while doubling as a marker to ward away next door's pooping moggie and the odd marauding foxes off. Although, my foxes tend to compete with their pee ~ which makes me think I may need to eat more garlic or other pee infusing ingredient that foxes don't appreciate.

Bobbie Carnegie ● 1511d

Madeleine, dishwasher uses 4 gallons, I'm sure I'm not using that much to wash up.

Janice Evans ● 1510d

There's always a problem with the number of cereal bowls/soup bowls and pasta bowls and forks and spoons.  I don't have enough of them so it's easier to do a little in a bowl because it would take days to fill a dishwasher (if I had a working one) nowadays!

Philippa Bond ● 1510d

Wouldn’t it be better to just piss directly on to your garden ?????

Madeleine Hazard ● 1510d

What if it's very windy?

Brian Coyle ● 1509d

Ha

Janice Evans ● 1509d

Seriously Bob Flowerdew has always advocated this sort of watering for its addition of nitrogen and potash.  Is there a water:pee ratio to avoid burning?  Out of the tent also a good idea.

Philippa Bond ● 1509d

“ Using a dishwasher can save you up to 24 gallons per load as long as you run your dishwasher every night.”Sorry but it doesn’t take 24 gallons of water to fill your sink to wash up. Plus dishwashers use loads of electricity.

Steve Taylor ● 1506d

Still loads of morons queuing to have their cars washed!!

Steve Taylor ● 1506d

Dishwashers should be banned. Waste of electricity and water!!

Steve Taylor ● 1505d

Dishwashers?https://www.treehugger.com/built-in-dishwashers-vs-hand-washing-which-is-greener-4858791

Russell Pearson ● 1505d

The Government should appoint a minister of drought, as they did in 1976.After that appointment it rained for thirty days and thirty nights.

James Roy ● 1505d

They use less water than washing up by hand

Madeleine Hazard ● 1505d

No they don’t. Washing by hand uses less water and less energy. That is even without considering that most people rinse their dishes (with running water) before putting them in the dishwasher.  Dishwashers were designed to help the lazy, not to save water or energy. Ban them!

Steve Taylor ● 1505d

Washing machines too, and how about showers? you could save the planet and be a smelly hero Steve

Russell Pearson ● 1505d

Don’t be silly. Washing machines are far more necessary than dishwashers which were designed for lazy people. Your comment about showers will obviously be treated with the contempt it deserves.

Steve Taylor ● 1505d

Steve Taylor, where on earth did you get the 24 gallons a dishwasher load figure from? Figures from the US quote in gallons will give you 20% less water than UK ones, given the variation in gallon size, but still... Old machines (pre-2000 approximately) used around 5 gallons, newer ones around 3-4, whilst those first sold in the past 2-3 years need less than 10 litres, or a couple of gallons for those still working in old measures.

Sue Rowe ● 1505d

It’s a hierarchy of sin. Thou shalt not wash dishes in a machine. But clothes can be washed, and spun.

Russell Pearson ● 1505d

Old machines (pre-2000 approximately) dishwashers used around 5 gallons, newer ones around 3-4, whilst efficient ones first sold in the past 2-3 years need less than 10 litres, or a couple of gallons for those still working in old measures. Assuming a small household (up to 3 people), that's at least 3-4 meals' worth of washing up. And whether you use heated water from a boiler or heated directly in the dishwasher, you will still be using some form of power to heat the water for the dishes and washing the drying up cloths!

Sue Rowe ● 1505d

"Washing machines are far more necessary than dishwashers which were designed for lazy people. Your comment about showers will obviously be treated with the contempt it deserves". I thought dishwashers were designed to wash dishes. Well, you live and learn.

Brian Coyle ● 1505d

You cannot save water from the dishwasher so water lost into drains.

Janice Evans ● 1505d

Of course they can Russell, I prefer to save the water just personal choice and we have a choice at the moment, if it helps prevent hosepipe ban whynot save what we can.

Janice Evans ● 1505d

“At home, Britons use most of their water in the bathroom, with the shower (25%), toilet (22%) and taps (29%) taking up the majority of our consumption.…In the kitchen, washing machines use the most water (9%), followed by hand washed dishes (4%) and the dishwasher (1%).” https://news.sky.com/story/where-does-our-water-come-from-where-do-we-use-it-most-and-what-happens-during-a-drought-12659327

Russell Pearson ● 1505d

Interesting observations in the treehugger article showing how it can vary from machine to machine and how you wash them.  Also the amount of energy being ised.It always irritates me how much water can be lost from a combi boiler when it is on a different floor from the sink/basin.  I try and catch that in a large milk carton to use for rinsing.  I also allow washing up to dry by itself.  It's interesting that a newer dishwasher I've seen opens at the end of the rinse to allow the dishes to air dry (steam to escape).Re washing clothes we often do this unnecessarily often and hanging clothes out on the washing line or

Philippa Bond ● 1505d

My tumble drier spins in the wind 💨As for washing there’s always the option of wearing a pair of £250 jeans for 6 months, and it never sees water https://hiutdenim.co.uk/blogs/story/101833089-the-no-wash-club

Russell Pearson ● 1505d

Well one of those listed things you can do with the jeans that you don't wash is what I was trying to type before the phone gave up - hang them on the line to air!  We always used to wash our hair and wear clean clothes to go out to the pub or a club or dinner - only to come back stinking of cigarette smoke.  We left our clothes outside as they stank the house out and soon found out that all we needed to do was to air them instead of washing them after one wear.Those Huit jeans are the ones where you send them back to be mended if you make a hole or rip them.  So different from the rails of ready-vandalised (pretend worn) ones for sale that I took a photo of this year.  How stupid and unsustainable and wasteful to deliberately cut new jeans before they are even sold or worn. We can all make holes in them ourselves if we insist on being fast fashion victims and don't have the patience to wear them until they are naturally soft and frayed.  Since it is said that it takes 1800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton for one pair of jeans we might all at least make an effort to wear them for as long as we can (even if we decide to wash them every so often).

Philippa Bond ● 1505d

Ok Steve, one last time - a family of five (mine for example) uses LESS water with a machine …. I’ve done the experiment - so you’re just going to have to take my word for it …. Unless you want to come out and check the black felt tip pen markers on my water butt ?

Madeleine Hazard ● 1504d

Good point Philippa. And don't forget that underpants have 2 sides to them as well.

Rob Reynolds ● 1503d

and for the last time a family of three uses less water and energy than a dishwasher when they wash dishes by hand. Especially as people using dishwashers always seem to rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

Steve Taylor ● 1503d

I seem to remember hearing the advice 'take a bath or shower with someone you know' or words to that effect back in that chequered decade(aren't they all!) and there being hose pipe bans several times.

Keith Iddon ● 1503d

I am amazed that the number one best way to save water in the western world has not been listed.  By enacting number one Thames Water has told me I have reduced my usage by over 50%.  This has been done without much trouble to me.  Maybe they don't REALLY care??  Why is it not listed here?

James Petri ● 1503d

> By enacting number one Thames Water has told me I have reduced my usage by over 50%. Quite likely, but if some regular posters reduced their number twos, it wouldn’t be very nice.

Russell Pearson ● 1503d

By collecting the cold water that runs out of the hot tap before it gets warm Thames Water have written to me to say I have reduced my water usage by over 50%. If just 50% of households reduce usage by half of that it'll make a big difference and delay the hosepipe ban. My shower uses 2 gallons before it runs warm, my bathroom and kitchen sinks use about one gallon each.  That's 4 gallons a day if used just once a day. I save all that and use it elsewhere instead of running more water.

James Petri ● 1501d

That’s brilliant James.  We’re going to start doing this from now on.  It seems so obvious with hindsight.

Alastair Banton ● 1500d

l save as much of that cold before it's warm water too.  Is some water heating better than others?  I remember a carer saying that one of her service users used to joke that it was as if the hot water was coming all the way from Australia.  I understand that saving that water is what they actually do in Australia.  In South Africa I remember they were standing in a bowl when showering so the water could be reused.We used to be told in the 70s to take a shower rather than a bath because it used less water but I don't believe that is true nowadays because of power showers - so it is try to reduce the length of your shower by a minute or two.  I like the idea of having a playlist (if you can hear it) so that you know how far you are through your allotted number of minutes.  Just a timer otherwise.There are different tap heads that spray and so use less watervand dhower heads.  It's wuite sn eye opener to see how much water per minute usually comes out of a tap - and it's drinking water!If its yellow let it mellow if its brown flush it down we've visited before and how urine is valued in the garden.  I've never used a she-pee and have anxious memories of desperately searching for nettle and bramble free areas.  A kaftan is very useful in the desert though!There is more info on thinking further about your water footprint here:https://en.reset.org/save-water-reduce-your-water-footprint/

Philippa Bond ● 1500d

Afaik the water that comes out of a hot tap should not be imbibed as it is usually stored in a tank.

Keith Iddon ● 1500d

"the water that comes out of a hot tap should not be imbibed as it is usually stored in a tank."Quite right Keith. I don't use my 4 "extra" gallons of non potable water in the garden but an idoors "appliance" that uses lots of cold drinking water...I'll leave you to guess which!

James Petri ● 1500d

If you have a combi boiler your water is not stored in a tank.

Philippa Bond ● 1500d

However many older properties in this country still have some lead pipes as well as some having odd plumbing particularly when they have been divided into flats and of course having bathrooms and inside loos added.https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help/water-quality/lead

Philippa Bond ● 1500d

Ihave a combi-boiler and a water tank in the attic, like many others I shouldn't wonder.Water from hot taps should not be consumed for another reason, that is that hot water dislodges any limescale built up inside pipes much more than does cold and that is harmful to human health.

Keith Iddon ● 1500d

“ That’s brilliant James.  We’re going to start doing this from now on.  It seems so obvious with hindsight.”Thanks Alastair. You are so right to say it seems obvious but the Friends of the Earth don’t list it in their top 13 ways to save water (it’s my TOP way) and the BBC don’t list it at all (I keep keep buckets beside my two most used sinks and shower and collect the cold water from the hot tap before it runs hot and I have  reduced my total water usage by over 50%).

James Petri ● 1499d

A few years ago I went onto a meter and I am paying only 45% of what I paid 15 years ago (55% less). And 33% less that 35 years ago. If you are a small household it’s really worth investigating getting a water meter.

James Petri ● 1499d

I have a combi boiler and no tank.  The first two litres of cold water from the hot tap downstairs in the kitchen I put into a large empty milk carton and then use it elsewhere - usually in the flower pot outside the front door. Allowing it to run until hot irritated me no end and this is my current solution.  (All efforts and solutions may change!)I used to have a brick in the loo and then I progressed to a hippo and then to a dual flush.  We hardly ever need to use the big flush as the little flush is good enough and often choose to let it mellow.  You can now breathe Chiswick... In another link I posted about water footprint it notes that Australians keep a bucket to catch the cold water from their shower before it gets hot.  They have suffered more drought recently than us. I don't have the same problem with the shower but maybe I should still bother about it.

Philippa Bond ● 1499d