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Home Save water in the home

Contact us

Contact our Environment Team
Email: Sustainability@Redbridge.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 8708 2036

Why do we need to save water?

Living in a country where rainfall is common can make it difficult to understand why we need to save water.  Yet the South East of England has less water per person than many other countries, including Sudan. Climate change is likely to mean less rainfall, putting more and more demand on water resources.  For more information, visit our climate change web page.

Much of our fresh water is wasted in the home.  On average, each person in the UK uses around 150 litres of water a day, compared to an average of 10 litres in the developing world.  By making small changes to the way we live, we can make huge water savings.

Hose pipe ban

Households could face water shortages this year.

Thames water is giving notice to all of its customers that from 5 April 2012 there will be a hose pipe ban. For more information about how the drought may affect you, visit the Thames Water website.

Ten ways to save water A picture of a tap on

  1. Turn off the tap - a running tap wastes over 6 litres of water per minute
  2. Fit taps and shower heads with flow restrictors- this cuts water use by half
  3. Fix dripping taps - they waste at least 5,500 litres of water a year
  4. Take a short shower instead of a bath
  5. Have a full load when you wash your clothes
  6. When washing your dishes in the sink, use a plug
  7. Fill the dishwasher before putting it on and use the eco setting
  8. Put a save-a-flush in your cistern - it will save one litre of water per flush
  9. Purchase water efficient appliances
  10. Do you have a garden? Install a water butt to collect rainwater, and use it to water your garden or wash your car.

Save water and save money too!

Using a water meter means saving water will save you money. To get a water meter, contact your water company.

Lowering the amount of hot water you use will also save you money on your energy bills.

Save hot water by:

  • only boiling the amount of water you need
  • only using the hot tap when necessary
  • taking shorter showers – if you need to, use a shower timer

Save water and tackle climate change

Waterwise found that the energy used to pump and heat hot water in the average home for a year produces the same amount of carbon as a return flight from London to New York. So using less hot water not only saves you money – it also lowers your carbon footprint and helps tackle climate change.

Find out more about climate change.

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