se pipe I use half the water to evenly spray the foliage, soak the soil and save myself 7 minutes!
Credit: Sue VisserSo if you are a frail old lady who can’t even lift a bucket of water, it is worth considering where we are really wasting most of our water. By paying attention to leaky taps and even toilet cisterns and taking shorter showers at longer intervals or recycling grey water you prevent a lot more hidden wastage than merely banning hosepipes. Use a makeshift gadget to recycle grey water even if it uses hosepipes! For washing cars, buckets are enough and less water is consumed that way. Best of all, is to wash the car on the lawn and waste not a drop of water.
The tooth brushing ritual and the best solution
The way we brush our teeth tells all! Fluoride is not a substance that is safe for a grey water system. We are constantly reminded not to leave the tap running while we clean our teeth. Do we really need to wet the toothpaste or the toothbrush before we use it? Some people squeeze the toothpaste onto their finger and pop it into their mouth before scrubbing. The mug that holds your tooth brush and toothpaste can be used instead. Fill it with water, wet the toothbrush, rinse and clean the toothbrush after using it. Take as long as you like and only consume 250 ml of water as opposed to 3 – 8 litres if the tap is left running all the time. When we used to go camping, a mug of water was all we ever needed to brush our teeth.
A brick in the toilet is not always the best option
As a gesture, we are asked to place a brick in the toilet cistern to save water. This means that less water is used to flush away your personal load. If the burden is too large and bobs back in triumph, a second (or third) flush is required. Experts on conservation now tell us that the brick trick can damage the delicate mechanism within most of our modern toilets. Most of them have a duel flush system that helps to prevent excessive flushing and they use 6 – 9 litres. Older toilets release a full 13 litres and placing 2 bricks or plastic bottles of water inside the cistern can reduce the flush volume by 2 – 4 litres. But using old bathwater to fill the cistern or directly flush out the bowl is the thriftiest option of all, apart from "doing it in the bush or using a long drop".
Another problem with toilets is that a lot of water leaks down from the cistern unnoticed. Sometimes you can hear water running in the bathroom when the flushing mechanism is faulty and the valve does not shut properly. Other leaks are more devious. A crafty way to detect them is to add some food colouring to the cistern. If you see the coloured water appear in the toilet bowl and nobody has been near it – you have a leaky toilet and need to fix it.
Constant flushing of the toilet after every tiny splash needs to be more disciplined. The tiniest tinkle does not need to be as urgently eliminated as the foaming brew of a man who pees like a fire hose. (Some still can!) A big jug of grey water from the bath or washing machine can ease the consumption of potable water considerably. If you are into urine therapy you will be recycling the stuff and skipping the need to flush it away. It's not everybody's cup of pee, but is worth saving up urine in a bottle and sloshing it down mole holes to drive them away. Some people say it works, so it is worth a try!
How to harness the power of the shower
10 litres on average escapes down the drain for every minute we turn on the shower and that includes the time we waste in warming up the water. So the average shower uses at least 30 - 50 litres of water that gurgles away. Prevent this wastage by placing a large plastic basin on the floor beneath the shower head. Scoop the grey water into watering cans and make a few free trips to the garden or use it for toilet flushing. A natural alternative is to install a shower in the middle of your lawn. The neighbours would be delighted! Either way, try to use eco-friendly body washes that are more pH friendly. Best of all is to have your drain outlet modified so the grey water can be channell