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6 Tips to save water at home
Saving water is a smart habit: it helps the environment and avoids wastefulness. In recent years, we have learned that water is a precious resource that should not be wasted. We can make some simple changes to our daily habits and start saving water right away. It's about making a commitment to ourselves, our future and our environment. Let's find out how to save water at home by following 6 simple tips.
1. Put a flow restrictor on your faucets
A flow restrictor, also known as a tap aerator, is a device that easily adjusts to almost any domestic tap. There are many types available on the market for almost all kinds of taps and they represent the most effective way to save water. Tap aerators work by passing the water through small, criss-crossed filters which mix the jet of water with air and thus reduce the flow. The result is a fully functional tap that can help save up to 30% of water.
2. 5-minute shower?
In terms of consumption, a shower is certainly preferable to a soak in the tub. But a lot also depends on the duration. Anyone who thinks that taking a shower in just 5 minutes is too much of a challenge has never tried. 5 minutes is the exact amount of time necessary to clean ourselves perfectly and, above all, without wasting water. Bear in mind that every minute spent in the shower uses about 15-16 litres of water (installing a tap aerator brings this down to about 9 litres of water per minute).
3. Turn off the tap when not in use
It may seem trivial, but in order to save water it is essential to turn off the tap while shaving or washing your face. You get your skin wet, turn off the tap and then lather yourself. It is only at this point that you turn the tap back on and rinse everything off. Applying this simple trick when brushing our teeth, for example, enables us to save up to 30 litres of water per day!
4. Be aware of the toilet cistern!
This one can make a real difference, since toilet use alone accounts for about 30% of a home's water consumption on average. A leaking cistern is a huge waste of water. But even a cistern that is too large can be a problem. A possible solution? An interruptible cistern: by stopping the flow of water ahead of time, it is possible to reduce water consumption to only 4-6 litres, saving up to 40-50% compared to traditional systems.
5. How to wash fruit and vegetables?
Among the lesser-known water saving tips, we bring you this one. Obviously, fruit and vegetables must be washed before being consumed. But how? Ideally, we should avoid lengthy scrubbing under running water and instead opt for soaking them. In this way, not only can we save up to 4 litres of water per day, but we can reuse the water on houseplants or in the vegetable garden.
6. Wash your hands… carefully
Recently we have learned to wash our hands more frequently. Every part of the hand - fingers, palms and knuckles - must be soaped for at least a minute. Without leaving the tap running though! Fully open, a traditional tap (without a restrictor) has an average flow rate of 12 litres per minute. So remember to open it only at the beginning, before soaping your hands, and at the end, to rinse them. Given that we wash our hands several times a day, this is a simple habit with enormous water saving potential.
As we have seen, by adopting a few small daily habits we can save large quantities of drinking water.
