In honour of Water Saving Week 2021, we’ve spent this month talking about how you can save water, and ‘save’ in other areas of your life. We’ve been investigating how saving water can benefit the planet and others, but today we’re talking about you. More specifically, how saving water can help you financially. We’re all looking for ways to save money, especially during the current climate, so let’s not dismiss the idea of saving water. After all, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
Why water?
Water has become such a readily available resource, that it’s one of the most wasted in our society. Sure, we accidentally leave lights on when we leave rooms. Perhaps we might have the heating on a little longer than necessary in the evenings. But when it comes to water; we make extra flushes of the toilets, stand in the shower just to sing, leave taps on when brushing teeth, and wash dishes using a running tap.
Even if you’re hot on reducing water usage in your home. You no longer use the pressure washer for the car, paddling pools are a thing of the past, and sprinklers are banned from watering the plants. There’s still a lot of water being wasted in the home. Whether that’s by pouring cooking water down the sink, using too much water to boil veggies, or overwatering your houseplants.
You see, quickly, we’ve compiled a number of areas in which water is easily wasted. Now to live a perfect water-using lifestyle is incredibly difficult. We’re not saying we’re perfect at it either! But, when we’re talking about ways to save money, saving water is perhaps the easiest route.
There’s only so many sockets you can turn off without impacting your comfortable lifestyle. The heating can only stay off for so long before you’re wearing 3 blankets and you can still see your breath in the height of winter. But water, that’s something you can save all year round, throughout the home. It’s one of the many ways to save money, but it’s one of the easiest.
How much money can I save by saving water?
The answer to that is completely dependent on your individual circumstances. Who your water contract is with, what your tariff looks like, and how much you already use. The average water bill is around £415 a year, with one person typically spending £322 and a family of four spending £668 annually. If you’re reading that thinking your bill is higher than the average, you can certainly save money by saving water.
Households have been known to save £100’s by reducing their water consumption. Small actions, like switching out an inefficient showerhead to a water-efficient one, can save a family of four £120 a year. Some water companies, like Thames Water, even provide the showerheads for you so the initial investment isn’t necessary. If you’re a Thames Water customer, and a Greenredeem member, you can claim your showerhead through your account dashboard!
What are the quickest ways to save money by saving water?
If you’re looking for ways to save money, you want to be taking the actions that save you the most water. Consider some of these options:
- If you have an electric power shower (which can use up to 10 litres a minute), spend as little time as possible in there. Reducing your 15-minute shower to just 5 can save you 100 litres of water! (Your ideal daily amount).
- Wash your dishes using a washing up bowl or eco-friendly (full) dishwasher. A running tap uses 6 litres every minute. The fewer running taps in your home the better.
- Forget cleaning with a pressure washer. You could spend pennies using a single bucket of water, or far more using a pressure washer. The device can use anywhere from 10-40 litres a minute! A huge water saving ready to be passed onto your wallet.
- Ditch the paddling pool. The average pool uses 530 litres of water – imagine the savings you could make!
If you’re looking for ways to save money easily around your home, saving water is certainly a quick and effortless one. While it won’t make you a millionaire overnight, those extra few pennies are definitely better off in your pocket than someone else’s!
