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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?
Water
Use in the home
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100 litres |
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50 litres (old WCs use 9 litres per
flush, new dual flush 4 or 2.5 litres) |
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33 litres (more like 100 with a power
shower) |
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eg washing up or cleaning teeth. 5 to
10 litres a minute |
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25-60 litres |
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70-120 litres |
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 6% of water consumption. But at peak times in a dry summer this rises to 70%. The hosepipe is the villain. Depending on use, it flows at around 1000 to 1400 litres an hour. Connected to a sprinker, 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.
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