How to use less water Why save water?
Not only is saving water a great way to boost your eco-friendly credentials, it’s also one of the simplest.
Reducing the amount of water that goes to waste at home helps protect the wildlife that lives in rivers and wetlands, while cutting the energy needed for treating and pumping water for domestic use. Better still, saving water by installing a meter may reduce your household water bill as well.
And in times of drought, it is particularly important to know how to save water at home.
How much water am I using?
The average household uses more than 100,000 litres of water a year. That's about 150 litres of water a day. You can see how this breaks down between some everyday activities in the table below.
Water-efficient appliances and practices can drastically reduce these amounts.
| Water consumption and cost of different devices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Device | Average water used | Typical metered cost |
| Consumption of water from single use | ||
 Bath | 80 -150 litres | £0.18 - £0.34 |
 Washing machine cycle | 90 litres | £0.20 |
 Handwash dishes | 30 - 50 litres | £0.07 - £0.11 |
 Dishwasher cycle | 32 litres | £0.07 |
 Toilet flush | 7 -11 litres | £0.02 - £0.03 |
| Consumption of water every 30 minutes | ||
 Hose/sprinkler | 540 litres | £1.23 |
 Power shower | 480 litres | £1.10 |
 Kitchen/bathroom tap | 300 litres | £0.68 |
 Standard shower | 228 litres | £0.52 |
Maintaining future water supplies
To maintain future supplies we all need to use less water
In case that hasn't whetted your appetite for saving water, you may also like to know that reducing personal waste also helps maintain good supplies for the future.
Though we often take water for granted, we're using more and more of it every year. The Consumer Council for Water warns that, if nothing is done, demand may start to exceed supply. The outcome would be restrictions on how much we can use in our everyday lives.
- Find out if you would be better off with a water meter
- Discover if water-saving products live up to their claims
- See what changes you can make today to save water with our easy-to-follow tips
