Wednesday 14 November 2012

Doing well with my water works.




I am happy today. I got my water bill and it is a good one. 6 months of water has only cost me £94 so that would be £188 a year if I keep up in the same way.

I am on a water meter and am rather careful about my usage because I know people on meters whose water is twice or more this. I have a short shower every morning - 4 or 5 minutes, try to wash up only once a day, in the evening, use a glass of water when I brush my teeth, and attempt to only use the washing machine once or twice a week at most. Washing machines are the biggest users of water I reckon with any wash cycle using between 45 and 55 litres of water. I don't put a jumper or shirt in the wash if I have worn in once, I get as much use out of it as possible before it is washed and then just a bit more. I have no dripping taps in my house - apparently a dripping tap can waste as much as a litre of water an hour!

Water is a wonderful thing, it comes out of the tap, clean with no effort on my part, compared with people having to draw it from wells or pumping it in the past, so I don't mind paying for it, but I am not prepared to waste it. I still know people who leave taps running and waste huge amounts, or put the washing machine on every day for 4 items.

I haven't had to use much water in watering my garden this year thanks to the very rainy summer, but next year I will get a water butt or two so that this won't be a problem even if we have a dry summer.

Now of course I am challenging myself to use even less over the next 6 months. let's see how I do.

12 comments:

  1. We have a well,so conserving water is important to us.Water barrels are a godsend..and great for using to flush the toilet when we have no electricty (no electricity no water).
    Jane x

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  2. We just conserve water because we always have. Never been on a water meter. We pay water rates, part of council tax,(which in Scotland has been frozen for some years now) but no sewage as we have septic tank. All down pipes go into water butts, havent needed to use them much this year! We also had 'Hippos' in toilet cisterns free from water company to lessen use of water when flushing, new house has short/long flush, but we still have put the hippos in.

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  3. We went on a water metre in June, so far it is looking good and a lot less than the £570 standard charge that our water bill was without one. We hope to save anywhere between £150 and £200.

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  4. Since we went over to a water meter I have a new-found respect for nudists! lol

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  5. I'm very impressed! I'm trying to cut down, myself though I don't think I'm doing nearly as well as you. :)

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  6. We have water meters looming in the next year. Southern Water are installing them around our area soon. I`m not sure if I`m happy about that or not. It needs to bee seen first if these water meters are such a good idea. I have a work mate who hates her water meter, as she now has far more to pay for her water than a few years before she had it installed. I`m not sure what the outcome will be for us. I`m fairly careful with water usage. I only ever shower for about 2 minutes. But, my highest water use must be my washing machine. Can`t wait till stepson mooves out as he is the worst for creating wash loads at the moment. I virtually wash every second day, and that has to be a lot of water use.
    We are currently paying £34.00 per month. Wonder what the bill will be like once the meters have been installed. I`m slightly dreading this, to be honest.

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  7. I fill my field water butts ( for all of the animals' needs) from next door's outside water tap
    they get free eggs,and a nice pressie at christmas
    the animals gets clean water
    thank goodness they are not on a water meter though!

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  8. I like the tips on how to save water - never thought of just using a glass of water to brush my teeth!

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  9. Hmmm. It’s good to hear that you try to conserve water as much as possible. However, there are some cases wherein we can't control our water usage. For one, water consumption can be affected by the condition of the pipes coming from the street into and throughout your home. Hence, it'll be good if you can regularly check your pipes so you can prevent or detect damage early, allowing you to avoid wasting water.
    -Carmella Vancil

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  10. Water bills will actually tell you how efficient your water pipes are. When your water pipes aren’t properly installed, you’ll still have to pay big for water that is wasted and/or leaking. I think you’re using your water wisely and I hope that you’ll keep paying low water bills in the succeeding months. :)

    -Elia Lester-

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  11. Water bills will actually tell you how efficient your water pipes are. When your water pipes aren’t properly installed, you’ll still have to pay big for water that is wasted and/or leaking. I think you’re using your water wisely and I hope that you’ll keep paying low water bills in the succeeding months. :)

    -Elia Lester-

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  12. My hat's off to you for the great mindset you have regarding conserving water! I knew that leaks can be quite expensive and wasteful, but the rate of wasting 1 liter per hour puts things into perspective. It goes to show the importance of getting those pesky leaks fixed immediately. Apart from conservation, it can save money from not having to deal with water damage.

    -Darryl

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