Just like the farmer who becomes a harvester when he collects the wheat at harvest time we can collect rainwater and thus become rainwater harvesters. It is not rocket science and many of us will currently be rainwater harvesters by having a water butt in our gardens  to water our plants and crops.

When rainwater harvesting gets much more interesting is when you decide that you want to move up a stage to use rainwater to do more than water your plants such as washing clothes, flushing toilets and  washing your car.

After this the next stage is to go for potable water quality or a quality of water that you can drink and cook with hence the “potable” description. For many this will be a step too far for now so we will step back to the use of rainwater for uses other than gardening.

If you take a moment to work out how much water you use in a day, week or year you may well be very surprised. An average toilet installed prior to 1993 will have a capacity of up to 10 litres of potable drinking water  whilst some high level cisterns have up to 15 litres capacity. Since 1993 building regs have made it compulsory to fit duel flush cisterns in all new builds which use between 2.5ltrs for a short flush and around 4.5 litres for the long flush but each time you flush the toilet you will still be using clean drinking quality water to flush down the drain. If you want to be sure of how much your cistern capacity is then you can lift the lid off the cistern and mark the level of the water and then hold up the float system. You may need help here but then flush the toilet and let it empty. Fill up a plastic 2ltr lemonade bottle and empty this into the cistern. Repeat this until the water reaches the pre marked level and voila you know how many litres of water your cistern holds. Obviously if you are in any doubt of being able to do this yourself then either don’t do it or get professional help.

 If you flush the toilet 10 times a day between your family, and that is a very conservative figure then you can be using between 25 and 150 litres of water a day. The next major user of water is a clothes washing machine which on average uses between  50 and 100 ltr of water per wash. If you as a household do 5 washes a week, again a conservative number then you are using ½ a tonne of water just to wash your clothes per week.

In many modern household kitchens these days there is the obligatory dishwasher and whilst white goods such as dishwashers and washing machines are getting more environmentally friendly these days an average dishwasher still uses around 15 ltrs of water per standard cycle so one was a day is 105 lts a week. 

The final major water consumer in the general household is the bath v shower issue. I prefer a long soak in the tub where as the wife likes showers. Taking a 4 minute shower will use around 40 to 60 litres of water where as a full bath will use well over 150 ltrs. Some larger baths have a capacity of near 400ltrs so you can see that taking a shower can save vast amounts of water over that used in a bath.

Now no one is telling you to rip out the bathtub but maybe you could take a shower every day and a good relaxation soak in the tub maybe once or twice a week.

In the garden use of a sprinkler or hosepipe can use between 15 and 30 ltrs per minute so leave a sprinkler on for 1 hour and you will have used between 900 and 1800 ltrs of potable drinking water.

So by doing some simple maths an “average” household may use between 1800 ltrs and 4300ltr  a week !!

 In many households water is still on an unmetered supply which means that you can use as much water as you want and you only pay a set charge which is usually worked out on the old rateable value of your home based on the value of your house in 1990. Water companies frequently say that this is a poor way to bill users as there is no incentive to save what is a precious resource.

Water companies are much more willing to install water meters in properties and in all new homes water meters are installed without consent of the builders or owners.  The main reason according to the water companies is to preserve the precious water in times of serious climatic change. From the consumer point of view it can be seen as a money grabbing scheme and water, the lifeblood of humans should not be charged for like this but if we want to live in a sustainable way then we need to look seriously into the ways we use and store water in the future and one way to focus the mind very sharply is to charge for consumption.

You will “get around to” fixing that dripping tap or the toilet overflow a lot faster if you think that you will be paying for the water that is lost to the drains. Also when you are on a water meter you will probably err on the side of conservation when washing your car by choosing to use a bucket and sponge rather than a hosepipe and a power washer.

Will it be beneficial to me to have a water meter installed ??

Generally if there are two working people in the household who take showers, use an occasional dishwasher and a washging machine 3 times a week will be better off with a meter but ask at your local water company for specific details and they will be only too glad to help especially if  they think you will be going on metered supply.

If you are a family or are disabled with a condition that uses a lot of water then generally you will be better off if you have an unmetered supply.

How do I reduce my water consumption ??

If you are on a metered supply then check your weekly consumption by taking a reading of your meter and record this in a little notebook or on a computer spreadsheet. Take a second meter reading at the same time next week and subsequent weeks. You will gradually build up a consumption picture and be able to average out your water use.

Of course you can do this recording on a daily basis and you will be able to see your averages a lot faster and over the weeks and months a lot more in depth information becomes available. Going one step further you can take readings after major uses such as washing machines and showers etc.

With this data you can set about looking at how you use water and how you can save it.

15 simple ways to reduce water use. 

1.   Wash your clothes on full loads and “economy” cycles if available.

2. Take showers rather than baths

3. Take shorter showers

4.  Don’t leave the tap running when cleaning your teeth

5. Only use the minimum amount of water to make tea and coffee

6. Wash and peel your vegetables in a dish of water and not leave the tap running.

7. Wash the car with a bucket and sponge and not a power washer.

8. Use rainwater for watering your garden plants and crops

9. Use rainwater for flushing toilets

10.  Use rainwater for washing clothes

11. ban the use of the hosepipe

12. fix leaking taps

13. don’t over fill the bath with hot water so you have to cool it down with cold water

14. fill the dishwasher up to capacity before use

15. fit a water meter.