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Most Precious Resource | Water facts | How to gain from rain | Saving the World | Drought protection | Reduce your water use

Water Facts

Imagine yourself in swimming in a pool 7 metres long, 4 wide and 2 deep: not a big pool but large enough to take some good exercise. It contains the amount of water it is estimated you use every year in the UK: 58 400 litres or 160 litres a day. How do we manage to use so much? Well, here are some startling facts..

Water Use in the home
 

Water Use outside the home

And so that’s about 160 litres down the drain before even going in the garden. Normally outdoor use of water is only 7% of water consumption. But at peak times in a dry summer this rises to 70%. The hosepipe is the villain. Depending on use and pressure, it flows at around 1000 to 1400 litres an hour. Connected to a sprinkler, it is a wasteful and ineffective way of watering. Using a trickle or drip system is a much better way: water is absorbed slowly and penetrates more easily to roots, there is no evaporation and it can be directed to specific plants. And on average a 100 metre length only uses 55 litres an hour.

So with toilets and the washing machine using between 30 to 40% of our water, it makes sense to use rainwater instead of mains water to supply these appliances.
And in a drought when we want to use so much more water for gardens and other outdoor uses, it makes sense to use stored rainwater when mains water use might be restricted.
 

Washing Machines

Washing machines used to use as much water per wash as a person now uses in an entire day - up to 150 litres. Advances in technology over the past 20 years, however, have succeeded in reducing the average water consumption to about 50 litres per wash - still quite a bit of water! Clothes washing now accounts for about 15 percent of the water that we use on our homes, so by reducing wastage in this area we can make significant water savings. Rainwater can safely be used in washing machines, so you can reduce your overall mains water consumption by using rainwater and buying a water-efficient model.

Washing machines vary tremendously in how much water they use per wash: first check how much water is used per wash (varies from just over 40 litres to over over 100 litres). For added efficiency choose a machine with a high capacity/low water use ratio. Some use as much as 20 litres per kilogram of clothes while others as little as 6 litres per kilogram. To figure out the water efficiency of a clothes washing machine, simply divide the model’s water consumption (in litres per standard cycle) by its capacity (in kilograms).

You can find water consumption information on the EU Energy Label that is affixed to all models. The best models will have a water efficiency of less than 7.50 litres per kilogram, while the very worst can exceed 20 litres per kilogram.

Full List of Washing Machines ranked by water use done by Waterwise in 2007

With any model, total water consumption will depend on how you use the machine. In order to minimise water and energy waste,
follow these quick tips:

Some Quick tips to reduce water wastage from clothes washing

- When using your washing machine, make sure to use a full load every time. Surveys have shown that a typical load of laundry is usually much less than the maximum capacity of the model, so make sure to stuff in a couple of shirts with your next load. If you need to do a wash but don't have a full load, use the half load feature on your machine. Remember, though, that some half loads will use almost as much water as a full load, and that two half loads will use more water and energy than one full load. If you're purchasing a new machine, choose a model with a capacity that is appropriate for your situation. If you live alone, you're most likely to not need a
model that can wash 10kgs of clothing.
- Familiarise yourself with your washing machine’s cycle options. Some settings provide the same cleaning power as a normal cycle, but with less water and energy. Check your user manual for water consumption information about the various cycles on your model, or contact the manufacturer.
- Avoid pre-washing. Most modern washing machines and washing powders are so effective that you don’t have to pre-rinse!