Saving Water In The Bathroom

Use the tips on these pages to guide heat saving in bathroom to save money and help the environment. For more information on these tips check out the water saving section.

-No Cost Tips

- Low Cost Tips

- Higher Cost or More Difficult Tips

 

Bath		Try using less water in the bath
		Add just enough water rather than filling up to the overflow.
		Use a shower or a shower head instead
		This won't suit everyone but even the occassional shower instead of a bath could save water.
Shower		Fit a low flow aerating shower head
		Minimises water use by in mixing air with the water, reducing volume hence saving water without a noticeable effect on water flow.
		Reduce the flow rate of the shower
		If the water system is not gravity fed.
		Replace leaking shower hoses and fittings
		It's amazing how many showers have water coming out of the wrong places.
Taps		Turn off taps as soon as you have enough water
		Sinks and baths should have a plug - use it wherever possible rather than just leaving the water running. Turning off the tap while you clean your teeth can save up to 5 litres a minute.
		Turn off taps properly after use
		A small drip can waste an awful lot of water. A slow dripping tap can lose over 6 litres of water a day.
		Run the hot tap until you get hot water and then add cold water
		Rather than running both hot and cold taps at the same time.
		Replace missing or leaking sink and bath plugs
		These are very cheap and if used you will recover the cost very quickly.
		Fit aerating taps
		These taps mix in air with the water flow and reduce volume hence saving water without a noticeable effect on water flow.
		Replace dripping or leaking taps
		A slow dripping tap can lose over 6 litres of water a day.
Radiators		Check for leaks from radiators and valves
		Whilst these leaks can be expensive to repair it is well worth it since leaking water causes damage as well as wasting water.
Toilets		Set the float valve to the correct level
		As the toilet flushing system ages the water level gradually rises using more water per flush. Also it is worth trying to set the valve lower than the correct level by 10%.
		Replace dripping cistern valve seals
		Keep an eye out for overflow pipes dripping outside the house or water running continuously in the toilet bowl - a sign of this type of problem.
		Put a 'Toilet Hippo' (or a brick) in the cistern to reduce the capacity
		These are best used in the older style cisterns which use up to 13 litres per flush. Often these are free from water companies.
		Fit a dual flush valve
		To give quick flush and long flush options.
		Fit a modern low capacity dual flush cistern
		Probably only worth doing when replacing a cistern for other reasons