It’s Water Saving Week, a nationwide campaign led by Waterwise. It might not be so obvious, but saving water reduces your carbon footprint, and could also save you cash. In the UK, we’re using more of it than ever, around 14 billion litres a day, so we need to start cutting down, fast!

Water demand in the UK is expected to rise by another four billion litres per day by 2050, due to the growing population and climate change.

Why should you participate?

With the cost of living crisis impacting us all, it’s important to save money anywhere we can.

According to Water UK, it cost £396.60 a year, or £33.05 a month in 2020/21 to use water from your home.

This cost is expected to rise by 1.7 percent this year. While this is less than other bill increases, it is still better to save where you can.

It’s also important to note that water is in a limited supply. Out of the 70 per cent of water that is available today, only 0.03 per cent of it is fresh water and safe to drink.

Saving water saves energy and reduces your carbon footprint which is extremely important for the environment. In the US, water usage accounts for 2% of all energy used and 45 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.

We, as a relatively well-off nation, need to work together to reduce our water usage and encourage other countries to follow suit.

How can you save water?

• Turning the tap off when brushing your teeth can save more than you think. A running tap uses up to nine litres of water per minute.
• Shower instead of bathing. A 5 minute shower uses half the amount of water than the average bath.
• Use a water-saving device in your toilet cistern. Depending on the size, you could save between one and three litres every time you flush the toilet.
• Try to use a watering can rather than a hosepipe or sprinkler when caring for your plants. Hosepipes and sprinklers use anywhere between 500 and 1000 litres of water an hour when left running.
• Check your home for any leaks in your internal plumbing. Around three billion litres of water is lost to leaks every day in the UK, which is enough to fill 1180 Olympic swimming pools!

Will you be participating in this year’s Water Saving Week? If so, let us know how in the comments!