Water Saving in the Home

In the Bathroom

• Take a shorter shower - Try to limit your shower time to three minutes. Every minute you cut from your shower time saves between 9 to 22 litres of water per minute, depending on the type of showerhead you have; 
• Turn off the water while you shave; 
• Plug the bathtub before turning the water on, then adjust the temperature as the tub fills up; 
• Cleaning your teeth - Use a glass of water to rinse your mouth after you've finished brushing. By doing this, you could save over 9,000 litres per person per year; and 
• Put food colouring in your cistern. If it seeps into the toilet bowl, you have a leak.

In the Kitchen

• When washing dishes by hand, don't let the water run while rinsing, use one sink for wash water and the other for rinse water; 
• Only use the dishwasher when full; 
• Place a container in the sink to capture excess water and when it is full use it on the garden; 
• Put the plug in the sink before washing your hands, vegetables or dishes and avoid running the tap continuously; and
• Keep a jug of water in the refrigerator instead of running the tap for cold drinks, so that every drop goes down you not the drain.

In The Laundry

• Wait until you have a full load before using the washing machine; and 
• Adjust the water level to suit the size of the washload.

Water Facts to Shock You!

• It takes 41,500 litres to produce a kilo of meat
• It takes 500 litres to produce one orange
• It takes 1,340,000 litres to produce 1 tonne of aluminium
• It takes 50 litres to produce a copy of Saturday's newspaper
• It takes about 5,000 litres of water to create one kilogram of rice
• It takes 4 litres to produce a bottle of beer

Australians use more the than 1 million litres of freshwater per person each year, or about 24 Gigalitres. That's enough to fill the Sydney Harbour 48 times over! About 70% is attributed to agricultural irrigation, 9% to other rural uses, 9% to industrial uses and 12% to domestic use.