Today is World Water Day – Here are 3 Ways to Save Water Every day!

You only have to bring up the subject of water with someone in outback Queensland to quickly learn how scarce this precious resource is. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on the planet, and let’s face it, without fresh water, life on land wouldn’t exist.

Australians are among the highest consumers of water per capita in the world, using on average an astonishing 340 litres of water per person, per day. That’s roughly 1,400 cups of coffee! Nearly 35% is used to water our gardens and 19% is flushed down the toilet. It’s a fact that every time you flush, you’re using up to 12 litres of water.

Now we would never suggest you stop watering Mum’s prize roses or flushing the loo (not a pretty thought). There are however some simple and innovative ways to conserve water and save money. Here’s our top 3 tips:

Tip #1 – Sing a Song in the Shower

The length of a good song is about 4 minutes. This is the perfect amount of time for a shower, and it’s really all you need. Try blasting out your favourite ditty next time you jump in the shower, being mindful of doing what you need to do… and don’t spend any more time in there than you need to. By the end of the song, you should be well and truly done.

Got a teenager in the house who loves taking 30 minute showers? (seriously, what do they do in there?!) You could try passing them the next water bill, though probably a more effective way to save any angst, is to install a water-saving shower head and aerators to your taps. This is a great and cheap way to save water and money.

Tip #2  – Throw Rocks in the John

Whilst there are some newer toilets with water-saving features like a dual flush, there are many toilets that don’t have these features and use way too much water. To decrease the amount of water used for each flush, place some rocks, pebbles or even a brick in the cistern to take up some space. Ingenious!

Tip #3 – Be a Lawn Trainer

Over-watering your lawn can cause the roots to sit close to the soil surface. Watering your lawn less will encourage the roots to grow deeper, making it a more hardy lawn and saving water in the process. Also, in summer, set your mower higher and let your lawn grow longer. This will not only save on water, but the longer grass will shade the soil surface, reducing evaporation loss.

What better time to action some water saving tips than on World Water Day. If all of us can take on one or all three tips, collectively together we can save bucket loads (pardon the pun!) of water, making it a better place for all of us, our animals and our environment.