Ten ways to cut your water bill

Women of the 1940s coined the phrase “to spend a penny” in honour of the cost of using a public convenience at the time. But while high street lavatories have become substantially more expensive the phrase still holds true at home. Every time you flush the toilet, you use about a penny's worth of water.

According to the Consumer Council for Water, meters charge about 0.15 pence a litre, six hundred times cheaper than mineral water, but still quite expensive when you consider how much you use. The average bath takes about 80 litres while watering the garden with a hose can use up to 1,000 litres an hour. With a meter, a family of five where everyone takes a bath a day will spend more than £200 a year keeping clean - and that is before any dishes have been washed or clothes put through the machine. By comparison, a single person who showers once a day will spend less than £20 a year.

There are ways to save – but you have to have a meter installed. A simple rule of thumb is that if there are less people than bedrooms in your property you will probably save from installing a meter.

TEN TIPS

1. Fix any leaks. A dripping tap losing one drop a second will waste 15 litres of water a day.

2. Use water efficient appliances in the home.

3. Fit a Save-a-Flush device and you could save a litre each time you flush.

4. Take a shower rather than a bath

5. Don't leave the tap on when brushing your teeth or having a shave

6. Use a bowl instead of leaving the tap on when washing up

7. Keep cool water in the fridge rather than running the tap to get a cold drink.

8. Don't use dishwashers or washing machines half full.

9. Give your plants a soaking once a week rather than watering daily.

10. Water your plants in the early mornings or evenings, reducing the amount lost through evaporation.

More from Money Central:

Ten easy ways to drive down your petrol costs

Ten tips to beat the 40 per cent energy price hike

The 10 worst property investments ever

The 10 home improvements that will add the most value

The 10 most extravagant weddings ever

50 great things you can get free

50 tips to beat a recession

The 10 most infamous heists ever

25 reasons to avoid the new iPhone

The 10 craziest parking tickets ever

The 10 most ridiculous fines of all time

The 10 most audacious swindles ever

Ten tips to survive a property downturn

The thrifty fifty - 50 easy ways to save cash

The 10 biggest stock market crashes of all time

Comments

[Imogen Lathbury]

WHEN will the British throw out ALL their baths and install water-saving showers instead? Every time I enter a British bathroom - inefficient and for the most part, cold, my blood curdles. Take a lesson on efficient bathroom planning from continental bathroom designers - and get those baths OUT!

[Darren Ward]

All 10 of your points are just basic common sense - water meter installed, or not!

They certainly ring true for our house and we don't have a meter and never will!

[JR]

Just the odd point,
a) "a drip" is subjective with costs commonly less then 1p/day.
b) Any water, be it a leak or simply not returned to a recognised centralised drainage system is eligible for the "sewage element" rebate. Soakaway's are prime examples as already noted.
c) Save a Flush devices frequently require a second flush in WC's not designed for lower flow rates, therefore not the solution frequently thought.
d) Meter size determines standing charges, ensure yours is no larger then necessary.

[victor compton]

The very best way to keep your water bills down is NEVER PRIVATIZE the water companies. Here in Cherbourg, France, we experimented with having a private company take over the previously city run water system. Water bills soared. The Public were purple with rage. Cherbourg then kicked out the private company, and re-took control of the water distribution and billing. Result : an immediate 25% drop in the cost of water. It should be said that we have always had metered water here.

[Julia]

These are all tips that here in Australia we have been following for years. It still amazes me that people brush their teeth with the tap running. All my family (from England) do this & it's like nails down a chalk board.

We don't flush every time we wee. A common saying here is...íf it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down'.

Grey water (from your bath, washing machine etc) is great for the garden, but be careful using grey water on your fruit & vegetables, avoid putting it on food you will eat raw such as salad vegetables.

If you're in the market for a new washing machine, switch to a front loader.

We are a family of 4 & use 187 litres of water a day, which according to Sydney Water is the equivalent of what one person would use.

Water is such a precious resource. We were nearing 30% storage last year & it really opened our eyes to just how precious it is & it should never be taken for granted.

[Steve Cunningham]

hi tony

best you check out your sewerage bill as there i believe ! should be no more than a 4% differance between the sewerage cost and the fresh water supplied , but check it out first before you jump

[Steve Cunningham]

Chriss

further to your instalation of a swimming pool i would advise that you direct your waste water to the garden and not to drains, as that practise would all be chargeable and considered waste water

all water used to fill swimming pools, paddling pools for the kids, washing cars, irrigation for plants trees shrubs and alike could be filled from a static point (garden tap) via: a sewerage deduction meter and claimed from the sewerage company accordingly, you will have to give the date it was installed and the serial number upon the dial face this then will be your way to an abatment notice but the claim for water not returned to the drains will only be accepted if you can prove upon request that NO water has returned to the drain for replenishment

i hope this has been of help to you and many others in your position

Steve Cunningham

[Steve Cunningham]

Further to this post wrote in by Mr John Figgins on the 23rd April i would note that i work in the construction industy myself, and in brighton at the moment, is a huge complex of flats being built above the Sainsburys car park and still NO WATER meters have been installed prior to their completion, so should a single person be living there they will pay the same amount as a family of five ? this is ludicous in todays billing issues how can this be ? is the main contractor at fault or the water provider ?

There is no reason a person cannot install there own meter to measure the amount of water used as long as its a type "D" this is the ONLY type of meter recognised for incoming water under direct instructions of the secratay of state .

[Steve Cunningham]

Dear Sir

Further to the release of information to the press and news paperrs ive been inundated with requests for meters and information in general, should your readers like more information to understand a bit more about water NOT returned the sewerage system i would be very willing to help them

My initial disagreement with Anglian Water has now spread accross the country very rapidly and iam now in a position to give first hand information on metering waste water to the garden directly via: the sewerage deduction meter,

The royal horticultural society have now picked up on my storey from the media and will be exhibiting a stand at the NEC in birmingham this june to show the public how easy it is to become eco friendly when using water NOT returned to the drains, my bills are now a fraction of the original cost as i can visualy see the amount NOT going to the drains therefor i`am in complete control of all water i use in the first place,

i have also been aproached by a company in regard to irrigation to supply my meters for the purpose of watering on timers and therefor the billing will be by abatement on a regular basis throught the year, after all if the water is NOT returned to the drains why should i pay for it ?

Although i live alone in a huge house my bills have dropped considerably

Any help i can give your readers please do not hesitate to forward my details on the information page of my web site

www.sd-meters.com

thank you for taking the time to read my message

Steve Cunningham
for and on behalf of
Steve Cunningham (Special Projects) Ltd

[John Figgins]

I live in Brighton and there is only one water company suppying water in the area ie Southern Water. Why is there no competition from other companies. The monopoly cannot be good for customers.

[Diana Weir]

Watering plants from a mains supply, if done regularly, can entitle the gardener to claim a substantial reduction on the wastewater element of their water bill – since this water is not being disposed of into the sewers but direct into the ground. (Complete the wastewater abatement form available on demand from your water company.)
Regularly using bathwater on the garden massively increases the savings possible, both by saving clean water saved and increasing the wastewater abatement.
This needs no elaborate re-plumbing; a simple pump and garden hose can be used to transfer the water into either a waterbutt or a leaky hose system, with minimum effort. The relatively fit who are keen also to save power and/or money can use a bucket (or other containers, such as recycled plastic milk jugs) to take the water out to the garden, which takes only a few minutes.

[Auntie]

I didn't know my flat had a water meter when I moved in, so I was in a panic having heard horror stories. It has been brilliant. A) It makes me think when I use water. B) It only costs me £6 a month, and I am not stupidly miserly either.

[nina]

I'm surprised the tip about plants makes no mention of using either rainwater from a waterbutt or dishwater.

[Chris]

I've found that since having a new thermostatic shower installed, I can save water by turning off the water flow while I soap all over, then turn the shower back on for a rinse without scalding or freezing.

[Chris Key]

We were required to have a meter when we built a swimming pool.Since then our bills have halved (at least). We obtained a 16% reduction on waste water because we have a soakaway (yet everyone in this area has one and most don't realise) and another reduction because backwash from the pool goes to water the garden, and not into drains. The pool takes very little water as it is filtered, and kept from year to year.

[Tony D'Emanuele]

I live in a flat near my workplace during the week and my water usage is very low. My last 6 monthly bill was 60.50. Out of that 52.34 was for my water standing charge, sewerage standing charge and surface water drainage. The actual cost for water usage and sewerage was 8.16. What incentive is there for reducing my water usage when the majority of my bill is made up of standing charges? If users are going to be metered why should there be a standing charge?