Frugal Water Saving Tips

Bpmull

We recently done up the house we were moving into. We put in dual flush on all the toilets. And it does seem to save a bit as when the smaller button is pressed the toilet only flushes for a fraction of the time. Also as said the cistern on newer toilets is very small anyway.

We also put valves inside the house to turn of the water to the outside taps. Although it didn't cost much since we were re plumbing the house anyway. It probably wouldn't be feasible to get a plumber out to install the valves.

One good idea is anyone with a condenser tumble dryer should use the water it stores from drying the clothes. The water is ideal for irons etc as it's very pure. Obviously I wouldn't be drinking it but it should be useful and will save a bit of water.

ShaunC

A good tip for anyone with large cisterns is to put an full (of water) sealed 2l cola bottle into the cistern, thus saving 2l of water per flush.

L1011

ShaunC wrote: »

A good tip for anyone with large cisterns is to put an full (of water) sealed 2l cola bottle into the cistern, thus saving 2l of water per flush.

Only if they're single flush and quite old. Doing this to a dual flush cistern will just ensure you can't get the bowl clean; and some modern "large" cisterns are still quite low capacity.

Markcheese

Don't know if I 100% on this but remember fitting loos with my dad 25 years ago and the standard syphons were capable of dual flush then ,you just had to take out a small plastic screw,and it depended on how long you held the flush handle down .. Assume it was for the uk regs then ...

RebelButtMunch

rubadub wrote: »

I often do my cleaning straight away, as the food is often too hot to eat. So you can put some water in a baking tray or frying pan and put it back in the oven or on the stove and it warms up.

+1 I scrape the hot pot into the bin, a dash of washing up liquid and a little cold water. The heat of the pot heats the water and you can wash it quickly. A quick rinse and its done.

rubadub

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

+1 I scrape the hot pot into the bin.

That's a good tip, as some of the washing up liquid is wasted on all the remaining fat. I have a jam jar with a lid that I open and pour in spent & dirty oil.

Another trick I had was to pour a little water in the pan which would deglaze it like you see chefs doing for gravy or sauces. I would then add in powdered instant potato and make a small amount of tasty mash. I learnt this from a housemate who always took my frying pan after me to get a taste of what I just cooked.

Doge

Right, this tip is not going to save gallons of water, but every little helps right?

I'd imagine a lot of frugallers will be planning on washing dishes and ware by hand to save on the amount of water a dishwasher uses.

The best tool i have found for scraping sauce and stuff from plates, saucepans, frying pans etc...are these:



Silicone spatulas, and they can be bought in places like Heatons for pennies.

They are very flexible and get in much deeper than a spoon or fork,
so you can actually scrape leftovers in one single swipe leaving nothing behind and can almost clean the plate / pan with one!

And besides, i think they are the best kind of spatula for flipping over meat and vegetables when you are frying stuff.

When i heard about the water charges i was also toying with the idea of using a small Air compressor to blow the leftovers off your ware, but the electricity costs might outweigh savings on water!

Its the people working in recycling centres i feel sorry for the most,
when the charges come in they'll get hit the hardest.

Imagine the stink from unwashed containers that have been lying around for upto 2 weeks? :eek:

And believe me, you will get people not bothering to wash their food and drink containers when the charges come in!

Markcheese

Was listening to a BBC environment thing a few years back ,and they mentioned handwash/versus dishwasher, dishwasher(fully loaded) wins on energy saving and on water saving ... Scraping down with a spatula will make your dishwasher work better though...
They have water saving nozzles /taps in lidl and Aldi now and again - they aerate water to reduce water use by 30% (wouldn't work in my house where taps have 2 settings on and off )

L1011

Doge wrote: »

I'd imagine a lot of frugallers will be planning on washing dishes and ware by hand to save on the amount of water a dishwasher uses.

In most cases the dishwasher uses less water than washing by hand...

wheresmybeaver

Has anyone recently installed (or know of anyone who has) a rainwater harvesting system? Something like this.


I've been messing with the water tank in the attic and I note that there are two outlets - a pumped one for our showers and taps and another non-pumped one going to the 3 toilets. So I'm assuming a rain-water collecting system could provide rainwater for another tank to supply the toilets.

What kind of cost is involved and would it provide a realistic saving in the long run?

allthedoyles

Here is a home-made Rainwater Harvesting System:


This is a wheelie bin , which will be hooked up to the rain chute , and used to flush the toilet .

bottlebrush

allthedoyles wrote: »

Here is a home-made Rainwater Harvesting System:


This is a wheelie bin , which will be hooked up to the rain chute , and used to flush the toilet .

Just curious if in the event of a prolonged period of drought when there may be no water in the bin does it defer to the tank in the attic?

allthedoyles

bottlebrush wrote: »

Just curious if in the event of a prolonged period of drought when there may be no water in the bin does it defer to the tank in the attic?

Nope - It will not defer to attic , because the flow from mains will be cut off completely on this one .

If the bin is not filling , there is a tap nearby and the wheelie bin will be filled manually .

mjv2ydratu679c

Has teh toilet been completely disconnected from the mains?

L1011

Sounds like an incredible amount of effort and hassle for when there's not much rain (or you've a dose...)

RebelButtMunch

allthedoyles wrote: »

Nope - It will not defer to attic , because the flow from mains will be cut off completely on this one .

If the bin is not filling , there is a tap nearby and the wheelie bin will be filled manually .

I suppose you could run a pipe from the attic down to it and have a ball cock inside the bin. When the water dropped to a min-level the ball cock would drop and allow the tank to fill the bin.

masculinist

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Put a brick in the cistern.

put a brick through the windows of water charge supporting politicians

L1011

masculinist wrote: »

put a brick through the windows of water charge supporting politicians

And get done for criminal damage.

No matter who is in power, we're having water charges. FF/GP government bindingly agreed to it.

masculinist

MYOB wrote: »

And get done for criminal damage.

Not if the whole country does it

MYOB wrote: »

No matter who is in power, we're having water charges. FF/GP government bindingly agreed to it.

The people are sovereign. If we dont want water charges we dont have to have them. End of.

allthedoyles

Rosalie Clean Crossbones wrote: »

Has teh toilet been completely disconnected from the mains?

Yep- the toilet will be disconnected , with a stop valve .

But could still do as suggested above and connect to mains using a ball-cock in wheelie bin .

L1011

masculinist wrote: »

Not if the whole country does it

Which won't happen.

masculinist wrote: »

The people are sovereign. If we dont want water charges we dont have to have them. End of.

We're in the EU - they're not. We have water charges and they aren't going away.

lazeedaisy

wheresmybeaver wrote: »

Has anyone recently installed (or know of anyone who has) a rainwater harvesting system? Something like this.


I've been messing with the water tank in the attic and I note that there are two outlets - a pumped one for our showers and taps and another non-pumped one going to the 3 toilets. So I'm assuming a rain-water collecting system could provide rainwater for another tank to supply the toilets.

What kind of cost is involved and would it provide a realistic saving in the long run?

We put one in a new build. Expensive at the time, 9,000 litre tank, use it for showers, toilets & washing machine as far as I know, plus the garden tap.

We have always been mindful of water and re use and recycle where we can,

L1011

lazeedaisy wrote: »

We put one in a new build. Expensive at the time, 9,000 litre tank, use it for showers, toilets & washing machine as far as I know, plus the garden tap.

We have always been mindful of water and re use and recycle where we can,

Presumably you have filtration/UV treatment as part of that?

If you're just using it for garden and toilets (And don't mind cleaning the toilet a LOT more) you can get away with less treatment for a lot less cost; but you run the risk of skin issues and other problems if used for any other purpose then.

lazeedaisy

There was a large system put in to ensure we can use it in the showers etc, just not familiar with it as I was an innocent bystander once technical terms were discussed, it was a big project for himself, so I stood by and up supported him,

Sorry for not knowing specifics, but it was part of a larger project,

masculinist

MYOB wrote: »

Which won't happen.




We're in the EU - they're not. We have water charges and they aren't going away.

so what happens if we dont have water charges ? what are they going to do to us ?

Blade

masculinist wrote: »

so what happens if we dont have water charges ? what are they going to do to us ?

Stay on topic masculinist, keep that for another forum.

masculinist

Blade wrote: »

Stay on topic masculinist, keep that for another forum.

I'd thank that post as acknowledgement but I have made a vow never to. I was just making a wry joke about the thing as you would in any conversation. sorry.

wheresmybeaver

lazeedaisy wrote: »

We put one in a new build. Expensive at the time, 9,000 litre tank, use it for showers, toilets & washing machine as far as I know, plus the garden tap.

We have always been mindful of water and re use and recycle where we can,

MYOB wrote: »

Presumably you have filtration/UV treatment as part of that?

If you're just using it for garden and toilets (And don't mind cleaning the toilet a LOT more) you can get away with less treatment for a lot less cost; but you run the risk of skin issues and other problems if used for any other purpose then.

Yup from the reading I've been doing, rainwater goes yellow very quickly. It seems like you would need some sort of basic cleaning or filtering even if it's only for toilets.

lazeedaisy wrote: »

There was a large system put in to ensure we can use it in the showers etc, just not familiar with it as I was an innocent bystander once technical terms were discussed, it was a big project for himself, so I stood by and up supported him,

Sorry for not knowing specifics, but it was part of a larger project,

Thanks for the reply, do you know if anyone ever has to replace a filter or anything on your system? I'm assuming if it was an expensive installation then it must be providing better quality water? Otherwise it could damage clothes in your washer, and nobody likes showering in manky hot water!

lazeedaisy

We clear the filter every 3 months, takes a few minutes, we have annual contract that came with system for 10 years, we are due first one next month.

when we were researching systems, or builder did a lot of ground work with university of ulster, as passive building as such was not available here with comments such as ...... Ah sure I can save you money, you don't need that much insulation, blah blah, that was a few years ago, I know things have gotten a bit better now.

dubal2008

Great idea in the planning apart from one big problem......winter....that will freeze up both bin and pipe unless you insulate them