But I don’t see saving water is an impossible task for us. Just a few hundreds of years back our ancestors didn’t have 24 hours running water at home through taps. They had limited freshwater and they were using it wisely. There are pieces of archeological evidence around the world that show how in ancient times water was harvested and conserved carefully. Be it Johads of ancient Rajasthan, which is again revived and successfully re-established now for rainwater harvesting, Or the example of ancient falaj irrigation systems on the Arabian peninsula which you can find in Al Ain or see how they still in use for terrace farms in Oman (read here about terrace farms and falaj system). Only in the 17th century, some wooden pipes started establishing early plumbing techniques to bring water to homes in a few places like London. But since the industrial revolution, mankind has exploited all-natural resources along with water. Without thinking, industries and urban society started draining wastewater into the natural freshwater resources. We not just polluted our limited freshwater but overused it and we are still doing it all.
But how about I tell you, ‘let’s save water to reduce water bills’? Yes, the fact is saving water won’t just help our future generation but can help us directly and can reflect on our monthly bills. To start saving water we need to think of a few steps. First reducing water demand then reusing water. We can do it at home, in the office, and how about showing an example to our kids instead of just helping them to create a school assignment about water-saving? Looking at the WWF prediction of 2025, techniques for saving water could be life-saving skills for our children.
When we are discussing reducing water bills, we are not just reducing water consumption but we are also going to reduce sewage bills. If you don’t know what I am talking about, just check your utility bill. I personally have observed a reduction in sewage column on bills when I implemented most of the following tips at home.
REDUCE WATER DEMAND
- Replacing all water fixtures like showers, taps with low-flow water fixtures can save money in the long run.
- For toilets, install dual flush toilets. They use up to 67% less water than conventional toilets. For offices installing waterless urinals are worth the investment
- Install water meters to measure the consumption of water. Even if it’s higher investment can be more useful for organizations than individual homes but when people see the displayed water consumption on regular basis they tend to save water more.
- Install gray water recycling at your villa or office. The treated greywater can be used for flushing toilets and for landscaping.
- Stop watering your garden and instead install drip irrigation
- Instead of grass, use shrubs and ground covers
- Install faucet aerators, which break water flow into fine droplets to maintain “wetting effectiveness” while using less water. An additional benefit is that they reduce splashing while washing hands and dishes.
- Invest in water-efficient appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, clothes dryers. In UAE it’s easy to find water-efficient appliances through the ESMA rating system (Read here about energy & water efficiency ratings for appliances)
- Clean water tank to maintain the quality of the water tank.
- Check regularly your plumbing and toilets for any water leakage.
- If you can’t invest in changing water fixtures to low-flow fixtures, you can easily reduce demand by reducing the flow of water at every water tap. You can put a brick in your toilet water tank.
- Whenever you are leaving for vacation, turn off the main water valve
WATER-SAVING FOR LANDSCAPING AND GARDENS
- Use layers of organic mulch on the surface of planting beds to minimize weed growth, which competes for water.
- Mulching also reduces evaporation losses.
- Avoid watering the plants during noontime, when it evaporates quickly.
- Plant local species which can reduce the demand for water.
- If you are lucky enough to live near the beach, plant saline tolerant plants which you can water with seawater. How about creating your own mangrove forest?
- Inspect landscape irrigation and plumbing systems for leaks or to adjust pressure.
- Set up a self-watering system for plants to avoid overwatering. Here is our simple DIY method for self-watering.
BEHAVIORAL CHANGES FOR WATER CONSERVATION
- Skip long baths, take shorter showers.
- Close the tap while brushing teeth, lathering hands with soap, fill the bowl for shaving.
- Wash vegetables in a bowl instead of under running water. Use that water for plants
- Don’t throw away any cooking water like leftover pasta water, leftover water after boiling eggs, etc you can either reuse it in cooking or use it for watering plants. Such reused water can actually fertilize your plants
- Don’t throw away any leftover clean fresh water like water from kids’ water bottles. You can always use this clean water to clean cars, mop floors, wash bathrooms.
- For car wash choose stations in which they reuse the water. Or use green cleaning services that provide waterless car wash or steam cleaning.
- Install a tap water filter for drinking water, this will help you reduce plastic waste. But remember it takes 1.39 liters of water to make one liter of water.
- Run your washing machine and dishwasher on full load and don’t forget to select Eco or water-saving mode every time.
- Avoid washing too often. You can wear the same clothes a few times before washing. You can use lesser plates and utensils or reuse them for another purpose while cooking. Try quick rinse for plates and pots if it’s not too messy instead of putting them in a dishwasher. Try hand wash for clothes when possible instead of throwing them in a washer.
- Buy clothes that need lesser washing and use milder washing powder, which won’t just help save water but also is good for your clothes and skin.
- Stop using products with microbeads like face wash, face scrubs, and microfiber-like clothes made of synthetic material. Because every time you wash those clothes with microfibers or use personal care products with microbeads, these tiny pollutants reach water sources through wastewater and pollute our freshwater sources or oceans, and further harm life underwater. This is one of the reasons why traces of plastic is found in our salt.
- While cooking, boiling cover pots and pans to minimize water use and it helps cooking faster.
- Thaw frozen food without water.
- When on vacation and living in hotels, follow their green housekeeping policy and reuse the towels.
- Share these water conservation with your friends.
Hope you implement the tips and save your water bills soon.
Why not make your entire home more sustainable?
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