Water-Saving Tips For Dummies by Michael Grosvenor

Author:Michael Grosvenor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2012-02-24T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 2-1: Water-rating labels on new products indicate how water-efficient they are. The more stars highlighted, the better.

Kitchen Connection

The kitchen is said to be the social soul of the home but how you work in this room — prepare meals and clean up — can have a major bearing on your water usage.

Here are some tips for reducing the amount of water you use in the kitchen:

Rinse and prepare food in a sink half-filled with water rather than under a running tap.

Wash some of your dirty plates, knives and forks in the sink the old-fashioned way to reduce your reliance on the dishwasher.

If you’re washing the dishes by hand, don’t wait for water to get hot before putting the plug in the sink — put the plug in straight away so as you capture all the water that comes out of the tap.

If you need to have a dishwasher (remembering that the most water-efficient dishwasher is you), buy one that has a high water-efficiency label — the more stars the better.

Before putting your dirty plates in the dishwasher, wipe or scrape food scraps off rather than rinsing them off under a running tap.

Use the dishwasher only when you have a full load instead of doing a wash after every small meal.

Laundry Time: Doing an Eco-Wash

The laundry is often the least-liked room in the home — it usually reeks of chores and hard work. Thanks to good engineering, however, washing machines are easy to use — you can simply load ’em, then set and forget. A washing machine can use a lot of water, though, especially if you treat it as the workhorse in an above-average sized family.

Calculate how many times a week you put your washing machine through its paces, then use the following tips to begin water-saving practices:

Wash less often: Just like the dishwasher, use the washing machine only when you have a full load ready to wash. And put only those clothes in the washing basket that are really ready to wash. You can also reduce the amount of washing you do by individually soaking or hand-washing more troublesome items in hot water in a bucket.

Get a front-loading washing machine: Front loaders use less water than top-loading washing machines. Some states in Australia even offer government rebates if you buy one of these water-saving washing machines.

Reuse the wastewater: The greywater waste generated by your washing machine (and also your shower, bath and sinks) can be used to water your garden. For more details about how to capture your greywater and pump it out to the garden to keep your plants alive, refer to Chapter 1.

Use eco-friendly washing detergents: Unlike regular commercial brands, eco-friendly washing detergents don’t contain phosphates or petrochemicals, so they don’t harm the environment when they enter the water system — which means you can safely use the greywater from your washing machine for watering your garden. Look for earth-friendly products in your supermarket.

Using the Sun to Heat Your Water

Although installing a solar

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