ecobites.com

Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

If we practice our own water conservation methods at home we encourage our children to accept that our natural resources are in limited supply - something they’ll have to come to terms with in the future. And something our present generation too often chooses to ignore.

Indoors:

1. Reduce water usage
One of the simplest ways to save water is to use less just by changing a few habits. You can do this by reducing shower times (and don’t shave or brush your teeth in the shower!) and by flushing the toilet less often—the adage ‘if it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down’ applies here—unless that’s too gross for you!

2. Fix leaking toilets
Leaking toilets can waste a lot of water—up to 10 litres per hour or more. If you can visibly see water flowing into the bowl, or hear the cistern ‘hissing’ as water flows into it to replace what is leaking, then you should get it fixed immediately.

3. Fix dripping taps
Like a leaking toilet, a dripping tap can waste a large amount of water—up to 10 litres a day or more for a fast drip. Having new tap washers installed is usually all that needs to be done to fix the problem,.

4. Convert your toilet to a reduced flush
Reducing the quantity of water flushed by your toilet is very easy, and can be as simple as filling a two-litre soft drink bottle with water and placing it inside the cistern. If you need to replace your toilet suite, then make sure you get an ultra-low flush toilet like the new 4.5/3 litre units that are now available. Alternatively, consider a composting toilet!

5. Install a AAA rated shower head
There is a huge range of AAA (or better) rated shower heads available. A trip to your local hardware or home renovation store will provide many options, and some stores are even set up so that you can test the flows of the most popular models.

6. Install flow restrictors
Flow restrictors fit either inside the tap or on the tap to reduce water flow. Sink swishers make much better use of the reduced water flow than a standard tap, allowing tasks like rinsing of dishes to be done more efficiently with less water, just like a water saving shower head.

7. Install a rainwater tank
A rainwater tank can at least partially offset your mains water usage.
A rainwater tank can collect many thousands of litres of water each year. What size of tank you install will depend on the available space, the size of your roof, and rainfall patterns in your area.

8.Install a drip irrigation system
A drip irrigation system, especially a sub-surface one, can save a great deal of water in the garden compared to hand watering with a hose and spray gun. Drip systems allow you to get water directly to the plants’ roots with minimal evaporation, and they also allow you to use recycled water at lower risk of potential health issues.

9. Reuse your greywater
Whether you use the simple ‘bucket’ method to collect greywater, or have a complete greywater collection and reuse system installed, reusing this valuable resource can greatly reduce your water use.
It makes very little sense allowing water that has only been used to rinse clothes in a washing machine (unless you are washing nappies), or rinse a human in the shower, to go straight into the sewer.

10. Buy efficient appliances
New appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers have water ratings labels on them that tell you how much water they use. If you have an appliance that needs replacing, then you should look for a machine that uses as little water and energy as possible.

Outdoors:

1. Check for leaking taps and pipes. If you have a water meter, do a test to satisfy yourself you don’t have leaks. Read your meter then leave for a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the reading is exactly the same you can be assured you’re OK. If not you have a leak somewhere on your property that needs to be fixed.

2. Find leaks and fix. Check first for dripping faucets and replace washers where necessary. Even if taps are turned off hard, they can still drip and this is a sure sign washers are going bad. It sounds amazing but a drip rate of one drop per second wastes 1,000 liters per month (about 3,000 US gallons per year). Toilets can also leak. It’s easy to check this by putting a few drops of food coloring in the tank. The color will appears in the bowl after about half an hour if you have a leak. So replace worn parts - they’re cheap and the repairs are easily done.

3. Mulch your garden. Mulch is a layer of material spread on top of the soil to conserve moisture, discourage the growth of weeds and even out soil temperature - it can keep up to 70% more water in the soil. Beware of using green lawn clippings - they can pack down quite hard and become a barrier stopping water getting to the plants. Better to put them into the compost pile and let them break down.

4. Water less often but more deeply, and aerate the lawn with a fork for more efficient lawn care. Use drought tolerant grass.

5. Add wetting agents to your garden, lawns and tub plants to keep water (and nutrients) in the soil. Kitty litter can also be used to hold water in the soil but it does tend to stick together in lumps, so mix it in with the soil.

6. Seek information on plants that are not water hungry. Also group together plants that have the same water requirements.

7. Try to water as late or as early as possible to reduce evaporation from your garden, and using a trigger nozzle on the hose will save water.

8. Raise the lawn mower blade to at least three inches. A lawn cut higher encourages grass roots to grow deeper, shades the root system and holds soil moisture.

Utilise shower water on the garden or lawn compact, discrete, simple & low maintenance. The design and features of FLO-to-GO portable and automatic fluid transfer system helps to create an economical, compact, simple grey-water re-use system that meets most customer's requirements.
http://www.flotogo.net/

Removing grease from kitchen waste water
Ewater systems has a great new oil and grease remove system for commercial kitchens. The Grease Guardian will remove grease and solids from water before it enters the sewage system, thus reducing the amount of grease entering into the sewage system. The Grease Guardian will help commercial kitchens reduce sewage blockages and improve the efficiency of wastewater treatment processes.

http://www.ewatersystems.com.au/how-it-works-

If you take into account that approximately one third of your water (and of your water tax money) goes down the toilet, wouldn’t it be a good idea to do something about it?

The Canadian designed Brac Grey Water recycling system takes grey water run off from your bath, shower and laundry and stores this water for use in flushing your toilet.Why flush perfectly clean water down the drain? When you can use grey water. It is an incredible waste of a precious resource. These kinds of grey water recycling systems should be be made mandatory in all new homes.

http://www.bracsystems.com/water-systems.html

Here’s an interesting article on an underground greywater movement promoting the re-use of greywater from the shower and laundry. The gray water guerrillas website is dedicated to promoting the re-use of water from your shower and laundry. Check it out for some great pointers for setting up your own greywater system at home.

http://www.greywaterguerrillas.com/index.html

Eco friendly Laundry Powder

The average household creates between 200 and 800 litres of grey water from washing clothes every week!

Planet Arks detergent has been independently tested by Sydney Environmental and Soil Laboratory for their suitability for use in irrigation (including watering the garden). The grey water was found to be suitable for salt-sensitive plants. and phosphorus-sensitive plants.

http://www.planetark.com/productspage.cfm/newsid/14/newsDate/5/story.htm

Designed to recycle all typical household wastewater (grey and black) to Class A+ reusable water quality -and to Class A quality for irrigation without further disinfection, such as chlorine or UV.

http://www.econova.com.au/detail.php?ID=73

Shower Buckets

A more convenient bucket for collecting your shower water or for bucketing out the kids bath water is this collapsible bucket from Ripple Products. It collapses to conveniently store in the bathroom.

Instead of scooping up the water with a conventional bucket, the Ripple bucket is able to be fully submerged. No more trips out to the garden with a half empty bucket!

http://www.rippleproducts.com/shop/productdetail.asp?id=7&catid=2

Grey Water for Gardens

The H2grO Greywater for Gardens irrigation system allows you to use your water twice.

Greywater from the shower or laundry is sent to the garden via the diverter and irrigation pods.

http://www.h2gro.com.au/

NewWater offer a great range of Rain Water tanks and an Aqua Reviva greywater systems.

http://www.newwater.com.au/greywater_recycling.asp

Nubian has a great grey water system for the home. The Oasis Domestic Grey Water Treatment System (GT600) is an affordable domestic grey water solution and can save a household up to 400 litres per day.

http://www.nubian.com.au/Oasis.asp

If you think water, act water, to reduce water wastage, you will not only save money, but help reduce your impact on the environment.

So keep up the good work and continue to stop the drop — always.